


Forgotten Moments

by Ambivalence_Forevermore



Series: Enexion and Avengers [4]
Category: MCU, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Enexion Chronicals
Genre: But will understand Gen Z humor, Character Growth, Character Study, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Go Fuck Yourself Rogers, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Just Kind of Making That a Tag Now, Learning Magic, M/M, New Avengers, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Precious Peter Parker, Ruby is a dog, Story Time with Frost, Team IronMan, Team as Family, Wanda Maximoff Deserves Better, Wanda Maximoff Needs a Hug, Wanda is a millennial in this, idk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2020-05-07 07:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 22,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19205026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ambivalence_Forevermore/pseuds/Ambivalence_Forevermore
Summary: Some moments in between scenes from 'The Shadows are Just Reflections' and 'To Re-write Space and Time'. Some are things I wanted to put in and didn't have time to, and others are by request.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> As a thank you to all my lovely readers for getting 'The Shadows are Just Reflections' to OVER ONE THOUSAND KUDOS, I present to you... Whatever this is!

Hey all! 

This isn't a chapter, just a page to sort of explain what this is and what I'm going to do with it a bit more in depth. The real first chapter will be up either tonight or tomorrow morning. My updating period will be pretty sporadic for this depending on what how many requests/plot bunnies I have going around my head, and I'm no going to have access to the internet for about a month once I head up to camp, but I'm not abandoning this work. I just have a shit scedual. 

This story will mosty focus on life outside of the events of 'The Shadows are Just Reflections', and possibly some things that went down after 'To Re-write space and Time'. It will mostly focus on Wanda's training under Stephen with some shots of Tony and Stephen dealing with the return of the rogues, a few more Story Time Specials with Frost (I really wanna copywrite that now!) and, of course, everyones favorite Spider-boo and company. I may also through in some scenes that were in 'The Shadows are Just Reflections' from a different characters perspective, so if anyone has a scene that they'd really like to explore more in depth, just let me know. 

FOR PEOPLE REQUESTING PROMPTS: I'll try to do as many as I can, but it's pretty crazy around now with finals and packing and such, so it may take a little bit before I can get to your request. You'll have to be pacient with me. I also may combine some if they seem really similar, or if I don't have enough time to make two seperate chapter. 

REQUEST GUIDLINES:  
1\. I will only accept requests that are relevant to the story (no erasing pre-existing scenes from the main story-arc, or changing major plot points)  
2\. PLEASE DON'T SUBMIT FLAMES! If it isn't something you'd say in the comments where anyone can read it, than don't submit it privatly to me on tumblr either! I tke pride in my work and am happy to recieve constuctive critisism, but I won't tolerate senseless hate.  
3\. Last but not least, i will not be acceting any requests for Team Ca stuff. I think that one's pretty clear, but I just want to make sure that the message gets across. NOT CAP FRIENDLY! 

Hope you all enjoy this as much as the first one! 

-Ambivalence


	2. To Be, or Not to Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda's first day of training is a lot less eventful than she imagined, Stephen makes some good points, and Steve's a douche.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this is the official first chapter! Sorry, it's a bit on the shorter side, I'm pretty stressed. Hope you enjoy!

Wanda Maximoff may not know much about life, but she knew one thing; it had a habit of treating her incredibly unfairly. Growing up in a warzone? She hadn’t deserved that. Watching her parents die? Not that either. Being trapped under the rubble for three days with only Pietro to cry with? Nope. Wanda knew that she had done nothing to deserve that childhood. Now though, now she was an adult, and no matter what Steve had told her, and no matter what she told herself, she had a nagging feeling that everything that was happening now was warranted. 

She liked the sanctum, and Dr. Strange seemed nice enough. She could tell that he didn’t particularly like her, but he didn’t like her either, and that was more than she’d expected from the sorcerer. She was currently seated in the library reading through some books that Wong had given her, the sorcerer himself doing something a few rows away. Wanda had yet to see Clea again but had a feeling that she was around somewhere. She could feel her magical signature faintly. 

The books that Wong had given her were all about control and discipline, something that she had been hearing about a lot lately. They had tips for how to maintain control, and what to do and not to do when first learning. She was slightly insulted that they thought so little of her abilities. Sure, it was only through Frost’s methods that she’d moved the pencil, but pencils would hardly be useful in a real battle. She was an Avenger, and that meant she needed to be able to fight. To make sure that the threat to Earth stayed back. 

She heard a swishing sound and looked up to see the doctor himself entering the library. He had either not noticed her yet, or was ignoring her, and Wanda watched carefully as he made his way over to Wong. They talked in hushed tones and she was unable to make out what they were saying, but she had a feeling that it was about her. 

“Ms. Maximoff, I take it that you’ve started your reading?” he asked, approaching her table once he finished his discussion with Wong. 

“Yes,” she replied, not taking her eyes off of the book. 

“I take it that you do not enjoy your reading?” Strange asked. Wanda didn’t reply, and she had a feeling she wasn’t meant to. “It may seem useless now, but control and discipline is at the base of all success. If you lack those, then you have no hope of succeeding,” Stephen said. 

“I already have succeeded!” Wanda snapped. “I succeeded against Ultron, and I succeeded against Stark’s team at the airport!” 

“And why exactly did you need to succeed against either?” Stephen asked, raising one eyebrow. Wanda said nothing. She got the feeling that Stephen already knew the one truth that she hadn’t told anyone, and that she knew Stark hadn’t told anyone either. 

“I know that you manipulated Tony’s mind in order to make him feel the need to create Ultron. I also know that had the tragedy in Lagos not happened, then the accords would have been put in place in a much more civilized manner that would not have required an airport fight in the first place.” Wanda’s lips thinned. 

“If you know about Ultron, then why am I here?” she asked. 

“Because you have potential. You currently have two choices: be the monster that you are, or be the Avenger you can be,” Stephen said. Wanda’s hands trembled in her lap, the word monster echoing angrily in her mind. She could feel the scarlet manifestation of her powers pooling around her fingertips, and she wanted nothing more than to make Stephen stop talking, but she didn’t. The sorcerer in front of her was far more powerful than she was, and he had even more powerful friends. She would not win in a magical fight against him. 

“I am not a monster,” she whispered instead. 

“The direction your heading? Yes, you are. So Clea, and so was I,” Stephen said. “Honestly, I think Wong is the only one here that was a decent person in the past. I know what I was, and I changed it. So did Clea. Now it’s your turn.” Wanda stared after him as he walked away before slowly turning back to the book she was reading. As she read more and more about technique and control, Frost’s pencil advice came back to her. How he had told her to focus on each little part rather than the pencil as a whole. Slowly she reached out towards a desk on the other side of the library and closed her eyes. The pencil landed in her hand easily. 

She stared down at the small object and felt a bubble of emotions well up inside her as she looked at the chipped yellow paint and faded no. 2 that was carved into the outside. She considered the day she’d thrown Vision through the floor when Clint had come to take her to the airport, and how even after her cruel treatment of her, the android had still saved her. How that decision had cost Rhodey his legs. She thought about how Frost’s name was Orûk, and how he had fought alongside people with abilities like hers. About what she had heard Steve saying to Sharon about Stark’s injuries. The other people in the library were beginning to file out, and a glance at the old clock on the wall told Wanda that it was time for her to go. 

“Wong?” she asked. The sorcerer looked up and nodded at her to talk. “Would you mind if I take this with me to read at the compound?” she asked holding up the book she had yet to get to. Wong nodded once and went back to his work. To the untrained eye he would seem uncaring, but Stephen, who was watching through a portal behind one of the bookcases, could tell that the sorcerer was happy with Wanda’s choice. Perhaps this would work after all. 

~

The second that Wanda got back to the compound, she found Steve waiting for her in her room. If Steve was waiting for her, then maybe he’d forgiven her for what had happened in Wakanda, Wanda considered. He had been talking to her, sure, but only to make sure she wasn’t in any danger from Strange. She got the sense that he hadn’t quite gotten over them being caught. It was her fault, after all. 

“Wanda, where were you?” Steve asked in concern. 

“I was at the Sanctum with Dr. Strange and Wong. You knew that” Wanda said, putting her bag down with the book inside. 

“They were serious about that?” Steve asked incredulously. “I can’t believe- this is all Stark!” he growled. “We were trying to do a group training exercise, but we couldn’t find you. If this joking training is going to get in the way of Avenging, then the council is going to hear about it,” Steve said. 

“Steve, I really don’t think that’s necessary. I mean, it’s not like it can make matters worse,” Wanda pointed out. Steve sighed. 

“Wanda, I know you don’t really understand what’s going on here, but you need to trust me on this one. They’re just trying to control you. Your powers are yours alone, and you can’t let Stark and Strange manipulate you into hiding them.” Wanda bit her lip but said nothing. She figured it would be best not to mention the book she’d brought back to Steve. 

“I understand,” she said. Steve smiled and nodded. 

“Good. Apparently, the council is mandating team training sessions now, so we’re all supposed to meet in the gym tomorrow at ten. I guess I’ll see you then,” he said, leaving the room. 

“Yes, I’ll be there,” Wanda replied absently, waiting until she was sure that Steve was gone before pulling out the book from the library. She read until about one thirty before turning off her light and going to sleep.


	3. Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda levitates pencils, Stephen comes to some conclusions about her magic, and she and Vision come to a tentative, unspoken agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys... I'm back! This chapter may not correlate perfectly with the cannon of 'The Shadows are Just Reflections', but I just really wanted to write it. So for the sake of the story, this is one of the first major interactions Wanda has had with Vision since the Civil War (texting doesn't count as it wasn't face-to-face conversation).
> 
> Feel free to comment any prompts or requests for the direction of the story, or send me requests on Tumblr (account on my profile). Hope you guys enjoy!

“You have got to be kidding me,” Steve said, glaring daggers at Frost as the winter spirit twirled a pencil between his fingers. “What do you mean, ‘she’s not available’?” 

“I mean, she’s not available. She’s training,” Frost replied. “If you’ve got a problem with that, then you can take it up with the council.” Steve ground his teeth together and stalked out of the common room to try and find some reasonable company. He ended up in the training room watching Natasha demolish a punching bag. 

“Nice form,” he complimented. 

“Of course it is,” she replied. “What’s up, Steve?” she asked. 

“Wanda’s ‘unavailable’ according to Snow-boy,” Steve said moodily. “I feel like we’re losing her, you know? I mean, she seems to be buying Stark’s whole ‘training’ game. Pretty soon she’ll be seeing Stephen as a better role model than us!” he said, throwing his hands up in exaggeration. 

“Well I don’t know Stephen all that well, but he seems like a decent guy,” Natasha said, crossing her arms. “He hasn’t done anything to suggest otherwise and I took a few peeks into his phone when I first got here. He isn’t hiding anything other than a weird obsession with antique watches,” she added. 

“Nat. He’s clearly under Stark’s thumb. You've seen the way he looks at him… he’s done anything to keep Tony happy. Even corrupt a child-” 

“I think that that is quite enough,” Natasha interrupted. She uncrossed her arms and sighed. “Steve… Wanda’s not a child. As much as you’d like to think of her as one, she’s not. As for Stephen, whatever his motives may be, he is currently one of the most important members of this team and has done nothing wrong. He is currently training Wanda the same way all the other sorcerers are trained under the orders of the council, not Tony Stark. You’ve got to let it go,” she said with a note of finality. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a meeting with a rep from the council. They want to know how the transition is going,” she said before leaving the training room. 

~

Wanda watched as Stephen demonstrated the levitation of the pencil across the room and into his hand. She had yet to tell him about her success the previous night, though she wasn’t sure why. She just got the sense that Frost didn’t want all that many people to know his past, and Stephen might ask questions if she revealed who had helped her. 

“Alright, now you try,” he instructed. Wanda nodded and stood up from the chair she had been sitting in. She remembered what Frost had told her about coxing the pencil forward and closed her eyes. She could see the pencil in her mind’s eye as she called it forward, and smiled internally as she felt it land in her open palm. 

“I practiced,” she said, opening her eyes and twirling the pencil between her fingers. Not a single strand of red mist was in the air. She had moved it completely on her own. Stephen nodded. 

“I can tell. Wong will be pleased,” he said. “I take it you spoke to Frost?” he questioned, and Wanda’s head snapped up. 

“How did you know?” she asked. 

“He told me that he was familiar with magic when I joined the Avengers. I had a feeling that he would be interested in your training. He likes you, you know. More than the others.” Wanda considered her past conversations with the elusive winter spirit. 

“I think I remind him of the people he used to know,” she said thoughtfully. The ones he left behind. She twisted the sling ring on her finger and frowned. “I hope Steve isn’t being too mean to him.” Stephen tilted his head. 

“What do you mean?” he asked carefully. 

“The transition has been very stressful for all of us, but mostly Steve. He doesn’t like all the new rules and he’s angry that I’m training separately. Frost is usually with me before I came here, and so they tend to fight.” 

“What do they fight about?” Stephen asked, looking worried. 

“Lots of things,” Wanda replied. “The accords, you, Stark-”

“What about Tony?” Stephen asked, tensing up. Wanda sighed. 

“Steve is mad because Stark is being petty and won’t see him. And that his shield is gone. And that his uniform is now spray-painted blue and that he can’t be Captain America.” Stephen relaxed upon hearing that there were no serious threats being made against Tony. 

“Well, I’m sure that Frost can hold his own against Rogers. Plus Oliver’s fear will defuse any situations… Frost cares too much about him to stay near Rogers for long. It wouldn’t be good for his mental health.” Wanda nodded hesitantly, aware that Steve would argue valiantly against being responsible for Oliver’s predicament. Stephen sighed before tossing an array of pencils across the far wall. 

“Now, let's see how many of these you can get within a minute, no red manifestation,” he said. Wanda took a deep breath and got into position. 

“One… two… three… GO!” Stephen yelled. Wanda began quickly summoning the pencils to her. The first three were easy, but on the fourth, the air began to shimmer slightly as she struggled to keep the scarlet of her magic at bay. Stephen watched intently as she continued to call the pencils forward, growling in frustration as she was forced to stop and collect herself before continuing again. 

“Thirty seconds,” Stephen said. Wanda reached out and this time summoned two pencils at a time. One landed in her hand, but the other shot past her head and stuck into the wall. Sweat beaded on her brow and she growled angrily. Why was this so difficult? She had killed Ultron and thrown cars, why was she struggling with pencils?” 

“Time,” Stephen said, looking up from his watch. 

“I don’t understand,” Wanda said, “Why isn’t it working?” Stephen considered her. 

“Your magic isn’t a natural thing. It was forced into you by an infinity stone at a time when the only thing you cared about was vengeance. The only reason you survived was your hatred against Tony and your despair at the world around you. If you look at your greatest magical accomplishments and displays of strength, you’ll notice a pattern. I certainly did.”

“And what is it?” Wanda asked in annoyance. Stephen sighed again. 

“Any time you accomplish a great feat of magic, you are emotionally unstable. Killing Ultron was an act of revenge for your brother and country. The battle at the airport? Fury at Tony and the Avengers that signed the Accords mixed with guilt about the dead Wakandans, and fear of what the rest of the world would do to you. Evacuating the city before Ultron’s attack? Fear for you and your brother and anger at Ultron for betraying you along with the guilt of having helped create him.”

“I-”

“I’m not finished,” Stephen said. “Now let’s take a look at your failures. The deaths of those Wakandans? You had been fine before that. Things were tense as was usual back then with the Avengers, but you were under no emotional distress. Your powers didn’t respond as well to you and people died,” Stephen stated. “I’ve looked through old Avengers files, and from the looks of it your other missions of them had a few hiccups as well. Not enough to make the news or get anyone hurt, but big enough to be taken note of. Rogers dismissed them, but Tony kept the data saved in order to see if he could somehow create something to help you hone your powers. He thought that perhaps it was the tech in the body armor he gave and was trying to fix it, but I think it’s something else.”

“Yes?” Wanda asked, fidgeting more aggressively with the sling ring as the information of what Tony had been trying to do for her sank in. 

“Your powers came to you in a time of great emotional trouble. They are therefore most responsive when you are angry, upset, or vengeful. While it’s useful when trying to fight someone who’s wronged you, it won’t be anything but unstable and a cause for concern in any other situation. That’s what we’re trying to fix here. Emotions are the most difficult thing to master. Too little and you're heartless, too many and you're unstable. It’s like a dance,” Stephen explained. “We all have to learn the steps to avoid unbalancing the scales. Figuring out the choreography is the first step towards harnessing your powers. Now,” he said, portaling Wanda’s pencils back to the other side of the room. “Let’s try again.” 

 

~

Stephen opened a portal for Wanda to travel back to the tower with a little after eleven at night, Wanda having successfully moved all the pencils to her in under a minute. Her forty-seven and one half second time being the accomplishment for the day. She sighed in exhaustion as she headed up to her room. She was so tired she didn’t notice the other person in the hall until they coughed quietly. Her head jerked up and she let out a breath. 

“Vision. Hey,” she said, uncertain as to where they stood. 

“Hello Wanda,” he said. They stood awkwardly for a moment, neither sure of what to say before Vision spoke up. 

“I, uh, was requested by Ms. Romanoff to remind you that the two of you have a training session tomorrow morning. She said she is willing to move the time forward if you are feeling too tired.” 

 

“Oh, yes, I forgot about that… The normal time works fine. I’ll be there, I mean,” Wanda stammered. Vision nodded once and made to turn away. 

“Viz!” Wanda said suddenly. The vision stopped and turned slightly. 

“I, are- are you happy here?” Wanda asked. Vision considered for a moment before nodding. 

“Yes, I am happy. My family is, and so I see no reason why I shouldn’t be,” he replied. Wanda nodded. 

“Then, I’m happy for you,” she said. Vision blinked at her. 

“You make it sound like this is goodbye,” he said, brow furrowing. “I fail to see why. You only just got back.” 

“You mean,” Wanda began, fingers once again finding her sling ring. “You mean you’d still want to, well, be… friends?” she asked tentatively. Vision considered her. 

“If you are willing to try,” he said, and Wanda got the sense he was talking about more than just rebuilding their relationship, whatever it had been. 

“I’m being trained by Stephen,” she blurted out. “I- I learned how to levitate pencils,” she added lamely. Vision smiled. 

“I’m glad,” he said before heading off back down the hall. “Goodnight, Wanda,” he said. 

“Goodnight, Viz.”


	4. Fight Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen contemplates how he should continue working with Wanda, he and Tony talk, Wanda meets Spider-Boo (yes, this nickname WILL be catching on throughout the story!), and Wanda is fed up with Steve and Stephen fighting in the kitchen. 
> 
> Inspired by this vine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW-Aqy-OpHk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, sorry that it's been so long. My dog has been in a severe downward spiral with his health lately, and now I'm spending what is probably one of his last days in this world with him. He's been like a brother to me since elementary school, and so this is a tough blow.

Stephen sat at his desk and sighed as he scribbled down his notes from the days training session with Wanda. 

“What is it?” Wong asked. “Is she not progressing as you expected?” 

“No, she’s making plenty of progress. It’s just, well, everything else,” Stephen said with a sigh. While Wanda had been making plenty of progress in their training sessions, she still didn’t trust Stephen. She seemed to have come to terms with the fact that she would need to be able to maintain a working relationship with the man in order to keep her spot on the Avengers, but other than that she avoided him as she did Tony and the rest of ‘Team Ironman’. 

“She will learn to trust you,” Wong said, though even he didn’t sound sure. Stephen just hummed in acknowledgment and pushed his chair back from his desk. 

“I’ll be back in a bit, I’ve just gotta stop by the tower for a bit. Make sure everything’s running smoothly,” Stephen said before opening a portal into the common room where he could see Peter asleep in front of the TV. 

“I’ll alert you if anything comes up,” Wong promised. Stephen nodded his thanks and stepped through the portal. He smiled when Peter grumbled something in his sleep and rolled over, completely oblivious to the fact the Sorcerer Supreme was standing in front of him. Stephen switched off the TV and headed off towards Tony’s workshop, unsure what exactly he wanted, only that he needed something to do other than go through papers. 

“Hey F.R.I.D.A.Y, is Tony there?” Stephen asked when he reached the entrance to the lab. 

“Yes, he is once again refusing to go to bed,” the AI said in a way that suggested to Stephen she was hoping that he was there to fix the problem. 

“I’ll see what I can do,” he promised as the door slid open to admit him. He stepped inside and was immediately greeted with the sound of blaring rock music, and the wiring of machines. He was beginning to see why Pepper had insisted on sound-proof walls. The genius himself was tinkering away on what looked like an upgraded pair of braces for Rhodey while also taking down notes on what looked to be a new uniform for Miss Marvel. 

“Tony,” Stephen greeted, having to yell over the music to get his attention. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, mute the music,” Tony said, turning around with a grin. 

“Hey doc, what brings you here?” he asked, writing down another note for Kamila’s new costume. 

“Just wanted to see if you needed anything. Most people would be asleep by now; I know Peter certainly is.” Tony sighed. 

“Passed out on the couch again? Ugh. I knew I shouldn’t have given him the Netflix password. You ever binged TV so much you passed out?” 

“Don’t change the subject, Tony, it’s almost one in the morning,” Stephen said, seeing what the other man was trying to do. 

“Yes, but-”

“Bed. Now,” Stephen cut him off. Tony groaned in annoyance. 

“But if I go to bed then how can you expect me to do whatever it is you need doing?” he asked, making Stephen frown. 

“I'm afraid I’m not sure what you’re referring to, Tony,” Stephen said. Tony rolled his eyes. 

“Well given that you’re here, I’d say that you need me to make you something, right? Though I can’t possibly guess what I could make that your Sanctum of Witchcraft and Wizardry doesn’t already have. A WiFi router, perhaps?” 

“Tony, I don’t need anything from you. I just thought I’d stop by the tower to see how everyone was doing and, apparently, put you to bed,” Stephen said. Tony looked momentarily surprised, but his face quickly smoothed over and he shrugged. 

“Well, we’re all fine,” he said. “I’m just working out a few kinks in Rhodey’s new legs, and I’ve got to finish the plans for all the junior’s new suits… and I’m guessing the council’s gonna start demanding I make Roger’s and company some new toys too.”

“They can’t make you,” Stephen said firmly. You’re a private contractor and are under no obligation to-”

“But what else do I do?” Tony demanded, slamming a tool down on the worktable in front of him. “I-I’m sorry,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Sorry, you’re right, I should just go to bed.” He turned to storm up to his room, but Stephen caught his arm. 

“Tony,” he said, making the other man stop. “You do everything,” he said softly before letting the tired mechanic go. He stood silently in the empty lab for a moment before F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice interrupted his thoughts. 

“Thank you, Witch Doctor,” she said. 

“Did Tony tell you to call me that?” Stephen demanded. The AI’s silence was answer enough.

“Mr. Stark has a room set up here in the tower for you if you would rather stay here than travel back to the Sanctum,” the AI offered, and Stephen considered the option. Wong would tell him if anything went wrong, and he had never liked the idea of Tony being stuck alone with Steve and company in the mornings before he and the others that didn’t stay at the tower arrived. 

“Alright,” he said with a shrug. “I’ll stay.”

 

~

Wanda had a feeling that something was not right when she woke up. She couldn’t quite say what it was or why she felt that way, just that it was definitely there. She figured it out when she got out of her room to hear angry voices coming from the kitchen area a floor below. She briefly considered just going back into her room and pretending to be asleep, or sick, but she knew that that wouldn’t work forever. Slowly she made her way down the stairs and peered into the main area. 

Bucky, Sam, and Clint were all sitting on a set of couches and glaring into the kitchen area where Dr. Strange was making coffee, much to the annoyance of Steve Rogers. Spider-Man was eating pancakes in his full suit, and Frost was glaring right back at the rest of Team Cap. 

“-can’t just show up here!” Steve was saying to Strange, who Wanda thought looked quite unconcerned with Steve’s anger. 

“I am an Avenger,” he said calmly. “And I have a room here. That generally means that I can show up here whenever I want.”

“The Witchdoctor is correct,” F.R.I.D.A.Y helpfully chimed in. “He has full access to the tower and may come and go as he pleases.” 

“Full access?” Natasha asked, entering the kitchen. “I didn’t know Tony even gave that out anymore,” she said, though she didn’t sound upset. Just thoughtful. Wanda turned away to try and sneak back up to her room and found herself face to face with a red and blue mask. 

“W-Woah, you’re Scarlet Witch said a voice which sounded quite a lot younger than the other Avengers. The boy, because there was no way that whoever was wearing the mask was an adult, didn’t say her ‘hero’ name in an accusatory or angry manner. He sounded like the children that looked up to Tony or Steve did when they met them. Wanda tensed as Steve and Stephen’s voices both began to rise.

“Hello,” she said uncertainly. 

“I-I’m Spider-man,” he said, “But you probably know that already, damn it, be cool man!” he said the last part more to himself, and Wanda couldn’t help but smile slightly, ignoring the full blow shouting match that was taking place behind her in the kitchen. 

“Hi Spider-man, I’m Wanda,” she said. “Do you always come to breakfast in costume?” she questioned. Spider-Man looked down at his costume as if forgetting that he was wearing it. 

“Oh, well, I heard them all down here and I didn’t want to… well… you know…” 

“You didn’t want us to see you,” she said. She had a feeling the kid was blushing under his mask. 

“I didn’t mean… it’s not that-” 

“It’s alright. I understand,” Wanda said, cutting him off. “Are you getting breakfast?” she asked. Spider-Man nodded, but still looked hesitant. “What’s wrong?” she asked, and Peter flinched slightly as Stephen and Steve’s yelling reached a new level of loudness. 

“Well I got these powers, you know? And it’s made it so all my senses are dialed up to, like, eleven. So basically, what’s loud for you is SUPER loud for me,” Peter explained. Something shattered and Peter took a step back, flinching violently. Wanda whirled to see that Steve had accidentally shattered the mug he was gripping. 

“I-I think I’ll just wait until lunch-” Peter began, stomach growling as he backed away. 

“No,” Wanda said, a distant memory of a time where the sound of falling bombs had kept her and Pietro from getting food floating to the surface. “Come on,” she said before walking into the kitchen, Peter inching nervously behind her. 

 

All eyes were on Steve and Stephen as they snarled insults at each other and yelled about betrayal and Tony, and how and how not to treat a teammate. Natasha was the only one who seemed to notice Wanda and Peter’s entrance, but she didn’t say anything as she sipped her coffee. Wanda walked determinedly toward the stove where leftover pancakes, bacon, and eggs were piled on plates. She grabbed a generous amount of both, remembered something about Spider-Man having super metabolism, before handing it to the boy behind her, who looked like he was about to vomit. It was at that moment that Steve yelled something particularly loudly and slammed his fist down on the table. Peter prompt dropped the plate in his rush to cover his ears before yelping and hurrying to gather the food off the floor. 

“Shut up!” Wanda hissed, at Steve, eyes glowing red before she forced her magic to settle. The super-soldier turned around, eyes wide as he took in the sight before him; Wanda glaring at him while standing protectively in front of Spider-man, who was trying to gather his breakfast back onto the now cracked plate with badly trembling hands. 

“Wanda?” Steve asked, a confused look on his face. 

“Could the two of you possibly take into consideration the fact that there are certain individuals that aren’t good around loud noises?” she asked, gesturing angrily at Peter. Stephen had the decency to look ashamed, while Steve just continued to look confused. With one last glare at the two rivals, Wanda reached out with her magic and, as she had with the pencils, levitated Peters breakfast back in order on his plate. 

“T-thanks,” Peter mumbled before quickly shuffling out of the room. Wanda looked around and saw that Natasha was watching her with her eyebrows raised, while Clint looked almost as confused as Steve. Bucky looked a little shaken, and Wanda reckoned that loud noises probably weren’t great for him to be around either. She wordlessly grabbed some pancakes for herself and headed back up to her room muttering a quick ‘see you at training’ to Stephen. 

 

~

 

“Peter,” Stephen said, running to catch up with the masked teenager. 

“Oh! Mr. Dr. Strange sir,” Peter said. 

“Peter, just call me Stephen,” he said in exasperation. “I’m sorry. About this morning. I shouldn’t have decided to settle my differences with Steve in a communal area, I don’t have the right to make you all have to listen to that. I’m sorry if I hurt you,” he said. 

“It’s fine, really, I’m all good,” Peter said. It wasn’t a complete lie, the ringing in his ears was almost gone now. He had a feeling that Stephen was fully aware of Peter’s half-lie. 

“Alright, how about I check you over in the lab,” he said. “And you might as well just say yes now because I can guarantee you that Tony will just make you do it later.” Peter sighed and reluctantly trailed after the wizard. 

“Wanda seems cool,” he said. Stephen hummed in agreement. 

“Have you officially met her?” he asked. 

“Without the mask? No. But we talked a bit before, you know, the kitchen stuff. She isn’t as scary as everyone said she was,” Peter noted. 

“How do you mean?” Stephen asked. 

“Well, her powers are so strong that it seemed like she was this all-powerful being that could rip your mind to shreds, but she looked just as scared about going into the kitchen as I was,” Peter explained. “And she picked up my breakfast for me. It’s kinda hard to be scared of someone when they literally save your bacon.” Stephen laughed. 

“I suppose it is.”


	5. Burn Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vision has an idea, and Wanda agrees, Wanda and Captain Marvel get to know each other, cool fight, drama, and proud Stephen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm currently trying to distract myself from my sadness, so I'm cranking out chapter real fast! Sorry if this is bad, I'm too sad to edit, so I'll probably come back and do it later. Hope you enjoy, and comment anything you want to see in later chapters!

Vision and Wanda sat in companionable silence on one of the couches, a rare bout of quiet having befallen the Avengers tower. Ever since the kitchen incident, it seemed that Steve and Stephen had been successfully silenced, both men restraining from any more loud arguments where others could hear them. 

“Have you considered a training session with Captain Danvers?” Vision asked, out of the blue. 

“What?” Wanda questioned. 

“I was thinking that it would be beneficial for her to see what you can do with your powers so that she will know what team you should be on,” Vision explained. “Furthermore, other than me, she is the only other person with the power of an infinity stone backing them, and I am not an ideal person to train with. From what I have observed from your previous training sessions with the others, everything has been hand to hand, a fighting technique you are less likely to use given your abilities. I am sure that Captain Danvers would be willing to work with you.”

“I am already working on my powers Viz, that’s what Stephen’s for,” she said. 

“For control, yes, but I’m talking about a sparring session, not lessons. I just believe it would be beneficial for the team if our main strategist was aware of what she’s working with.” Wanda nodded slowly. 

“I suppose I could try talking to her,” she agreed tentatively. Carol was someone she hadn’t had much contact with since arriving at the tower from Wakanda. It wasn’t that she felt threatened by the other infinity-power wielding women any longer, the accords granted her a spot in the initiative unless she broke their rules. She just didn’t want Carol to see her as someone less than, the way so many others did. Wanda was beginning to come to terms with the fact that yes, she needed Stephen’s training. Looking back at all of her moments of strength, she had found that Stephen was correct. Her powers were driven by anger and hate. If Carol saw that, then there’d be no way that she would be allowed on the field. 

 

~

“Wanda, have a sec?” the voice of Tony Stark said as the young witch headed back to her room, thoughts on how she’d approach Carol racing through her head. She froze when she heard Tony, giving him time to catch up. He looked about as uncomfortable as Wanda felt, and wouldn’t meet her eyes. She didn’t think that she wanted him to. 

“Hey, ah… I just wanted to say… thanks. For what you did for Spider-man the other day… it’s been a rough transition for him, and we’re still working out how to keep the whole’ sensory overload’ thing under control. I just… thank you. It’s good to know someone else is looking out for him too,” Tony said. Wanda nodded. 

“He may not trust me, but I think that he’s a good kid,” she replied. “And Steve and Stephen were out of line, I would have said something anyway,” she added, though she knew that wasn’t true. Had the kid not shown up when he did, Wanda would have just left them to their fighting. Tony gave her a stiff nod and headed back down to his labs. 

“Well that was an awkward interaction if I’ve ever seen one,” Carol said. Wanda whirled around to find the other woman leaning against the far wall with an amused expression on her face. “Vision said that you were looking for me?” she said, prompting Wanda to state her case. 

“Vision thought that it would be a good idea for me to try a… field test of sorts with you,” Wanda said, all prior speech plans forgotten. Carol raised her eyebrows. 

“I thought you were already receiving training,” she pointed out. 

“I am,” Wanda said, “but I Vision thought that it would be best for you to be able to analyze my skills to decide where I best fit on the field.”

“And you?” Carol asked. “I’ve been hearing what Vision thinks, and I’m guessing I’m going to hear Steve argue the other side later, but you’ve yet to voice an opinion on the matter. I told the council when I signed those papers that I’m not running training sessions or testing anyone's abilities unless they want me to. Mr. Rogers has chosen not to, along with Sam, Ms. Marvel, Iron Savior, and Frost.” Wanda thought for a second. 

“I want to,” she said. “I want to know what I’m best at.” Carol smiled at her. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow in Training Room C at 10:30,” she said before heading back down the hall. 

 

~

When Wanda turned up at Training Room C, Carol was already there in her full Captain Marvel costume. Wanda wasn’t entirely sure what Carol’s powers were exactly, but she knew that the other woman was powerful. 

“Alright, so this first round is going to be a free for all. I want to see what you feel most comfortable doing, and what your strengths are. Think of it as a pre-assessment,” Carol said, her helmet snapping over the upper part of her head, and making her hair into a sort of mohawk. Her fists began to glow with golden light, and Wanda felt her magic twist inside her as it assessed the threat. Perhaps it could sense an energy signature close to its own, she mused. 

Carol rose into the air, and Wanda did as well. While she was anxious to begin, she didn’t want to fire the first shot. She knew how it would look if someone were to see it out of context. Luckily for her, Carol was the first to attack. A beam of gold energy shot quickly for Wanda, and she batted it away with a blast of her own, quickly putting up a shield around her. Carol looked her over assessing before taking off in circles around the arena, firing blasts of golden light in no particular pattern as she went. The shield held strong, and Wanda fired back some shots of her own, though Carol blocked them easily. 

Growing bolder in her attacks, Wanda landed and reached out towards a stack of extra punching bags across the room and watched as they shimmered red. Checking herself and thinking through the steps Stephen gave her, Wanda nodded to herself as the angry red faded to a gentler shade before launching them in rapid succession at Carol, who blasted through them with beams of energy. 

“You’ve got spirit,” she said. “I say we kick it up a notch.” 

Wanda watched in astonishment as Carol’s body began to radiate golden light and, with a flash of light, sent a pulse of energy through the training room, making Wanda’s shields waver. Wanda quickly regained her mental footing and tightened her shields before letting go of them completely. She drew them into her and reached into the heart of her magic, before forcing out of her. Red light shot out in all directions, and Carol was knocked out of the air. Everything shimmered a soft scarlet, and Wanda wavered on her feet slightly but caught her balance. 

Carol scrambled to her feet and deactivated her helmet, the golden glow receding to just her hands once more. 

“Woah, that’s more than I’ve seen you do in the footage,” she noted. “Have you ever done that before?” Wanda shook her head, watching as the scarlet light slowly began to fade. It was a nice sort of scarlet, the kind that Stephen encouraged her to aim to make rather than the violent red of her past feats. “You up for another round?” Carol asked. Wanda considered taking a break for a second, but Carol looked excited, and she felt as though perhaps they might end up getting along if they had enough time together, and so she pushed her feelings of exhaustion away. 

“Let’s go,” she agreed.

They kept it up for the next three hours, Carol and Wanda seemingly equally matched, though Wanda had a feeling that the captain was going easy on her. Wanda could feet exhaustion creeping into her mind and blinked away a series of black dots that were dancing in front of her vision. Sounds began to blur together, and she barely noticed when Carol called her name in concern. The shields around her flickered and faded, and Wanda stumbled forward a bit, her thoughts growing foggy. 

 

~

Stephen was debating whether or not Harry Potter’s portrayal of magic was accurate with Peter when his com unit lit up, and Carol’s voice came through.

“Dr. Strange, you're needed in Training Room C, NOW!” she ordered, voice slightly frantic. 

“What’s going on?” Peter asked in confusion, and Stephen shook his head. 

“No idea kid, but I should probably get down there. You stay where you are,” he ordered before opening a golden portal and stepping into the training room. 

Out of all the things that Stephen had been expecting, this wasn’t it. He had thought perhaps there was a magic threat trying to break in, or that Carol had accidentally blasted a hole through the wall and needed him to turn back time around it again (long story), but the training room looked completely undamaged besides a few destroyed punching bags. Then he noticed Wanda. 

The sorceress in training was swaying on her feet, eyes glazed as her magic receded from the air and back into her. 

“Do you know what’s happening?” Carol asked in concern. Wanda stumbled forward and Stephen quickly caught her before she could face plant on the hard ground. 

“How long have you been training?” he asked, but before Carol could reply, Wanda’s eyes seemed to finally focus on who had grabbed her. 

“It was pretty,” she said softly, her words slightly slurred from exhaustion. “It wasn’t the mean red, it was all nice and pretty,” she said again before her eyes closed, and she was out like a light. 

“It’s a burnout. She used to much magic to fast,” Stephen guessed. “She just needs to rest, I’ll take her back to the sanctum. It happened to Clea when she first came here a few times.” 

 

“But she’s used her powers in large amounts before, why hasn’t this happened previously?” Carol asked. 

“She said it was pretty… do you remember what color the magic manifested into?” Stephen asked, and Carol looked at him as if waiting for him to say he was joking. 

“I’m gonna have to go with red,” she said, but the sorcerer shook his head. 

“I know that, but was it a violent shade, or a bit calmer. Carol thought for a second. 

“It was, well, pretty like she said it was. Kind of light scarlet,” she noted. “There was a bit of orangey gold too, I think. Though that might have just been her light mixing with mine.” Stephen looked down at the sleeping trainee and smiled slightly. 

“She’s learning. She used the correct technique the entire time,” Stephen said. “That’s why it drained her so much.” Carol wasn’t quite sure what Stephen was talking about, but when he next looked at Wanda, she could see pride reflected in his gaze, and so she assumed it was something good. 

“I’m gonna get her to the Sanctum. Wong will probably know how to help her regain her strength,” Stephen said, maneuvering Wanda so that he could open a portal. Carol nodded. 

“When she wakes up tell her that she has my permission to skip training for the next few days if she needs to; she demonstrated more than enough today.”

“I will,” Stephen promised.


	6. Burn Out pt.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda begins recovering from her burn out, she and Stephen talk, and that's pretty much it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! My sadness writing has continued, and so here is part two of Burn Out. Hope you enjoy!

“Is she going to be alright?” Stephen asked in concern, looking down at Wanda’s unconscious form. 

“She should be fine,” Wong reassured him. “If anything, this is good. It means she’s making progress, we just need to encourage her to slow down the progress.” 

“Yeah, I mean remember all the times I burned out?” Clea said. “She’ll probably be awake within the hour. “Have the Avengers been alerted?” she questioned. 

“Captain Marvel is aware,” Stephen replied. “And I messaged Tony about the incident, and he told Vision.”

“What about Rogers?” Clea asked. “I mean, he’s pretty protective of her, right? He’ll lose his shit if he’s not made aware,” she pointed out, and Wong looked up at Strange with raised eyebrows. He was clearly very eager to see how this played out. Watching Stephen and Steve’s arguments through portals had become a favorite pastime of his. 

“I think he’ll lose his shit weather we tell him or not,” Stephen said. “We might as well give Wanda some time to recover before making a big deal about it,” he said. Wong and Clea nodded their agreement. 

“Well, I believe that she will be awake soon,” Wong said, standing up. “If you wish to stay with her, I can keep an eye on things for you,” he offered. Stephen nodded his thanks. Where would I be without Wong? He thought as the other man headed back out to the library. 

“Tell her I’ve got some more paints if she wants to do art when she wakes up,” Clea said before heading out. Stephen sighed and then settled into the chair beside Wanda’s bed, a book in hand. 

~

Wanda felt groggy. Her body was heavy like she was wearing some sort of led blanket, and her head pounded. She tried to jerk into a sitting position, but that just seemed to make the pain worse. 

“Hey, slow and steady, that’s it,” a familiar voice said. 

“Dr. Strange,” she said, her voice scratchy and her throat burning. 

“Do you know where you are?” Stephen asked.   
“This looks like the Sanctum,” Wanda said, looking around the room. “I don’t know what room this is, though.”

“It’s yours for any time that you feel like staying in the Sanctum. All sorcerers have one,” Stephen explained. “Do you remember what happened before you blacked out?” he asked next, helping her into a sitting position. 

“I was training with Captain Marvel, and all the magic was light scarlet like you said it should be. It wasn’t angry when I called it, it felt… normal,” she said. It was hard to describe, Wanda realized how her magic felt to her. Usually, it was an angry and violent force that remained barely contained within her skin, but when she had trained with Carol, it felt more like an extra limb for her to wield however she saw fit. 

“That’s good,” Stephen said. “It means your learning fast. What you experienced in Training Room C is what we call a burn out. Since using your magic like this rather than driven purely by your emotions is still new to you, it will require a lot more energy. It’s like lifting weights, you have to get used to it before you can start bench pressing with Roger’s weights. Wanda smiled slightly at that. 

“When I was training with Captain Marvel, I did something… I could feel my magic and I sent it all out, it kind of radiated through me. Is that normal?” she asked. Stephen waited a moment before answering. 

“I’m not sure,” he said honestly. “I’m going to tell you the truth, and that is that I’ve never seen powers quite like yours. I believe that if you radiate your magic like that, and it wasn’t hostile or acting of its own will, then it means that your progressing. More of your magic is being tamed for lack of a better word. It’s letting you be in control rather than the other way around if that makes sense. Wanda nodded, though she still looked uneasy. 

“What is it?” Stephen asked. Wanda hesitates before taking a shaky breath. 

“I’ve never done anything that powerful before… It felt like there was more magic than when I fought Ultron or was in Lagos or the airport. If the council finds out that I’m getting stronger…” her hand was trembling and rubbing at her neck, and Stephen instantly recalled what Tony had told him about the raft. The prison Ross had created without the approval of the Avengers or the Council. 

“They are not putting you back there,” Stephen said fiercely. “Tony personally made sure that the Raft was destroyed. It never should have existed in the first place. If at any time the Council decides that your magic is too uncontrollable, which your training with me and Wong and Clea will prevent, then your magic will be bound by another sorcerer, not a dog color and straight jacket,” he explained. “It was one of my conditions upon joining the Initiative, and a clause has been created in their Accord Documents saying that all criminal activity done by magical entities is the responsibility of the sorcerer supreme, therefore me. The Council has no control over magical restraint, and or punishment,” Stephen reassured her. Wanda took another shaky breath. 

“Thank you,” she whispered. Stephen nodded. 

“Carol was quite impressed with your demonstration. She said that you can take the rest few training sets off while you recover, she’s confident that you’ll be fine without them,” Stephen said. “Wong thinks that you should take it easy for the next day or so, and you’re welcome to stay here or go back to your room in the tower, just have me portal you over. I don’t want you using to much energy trying to make one yourself,” he warned. It seemed that Wanda’s attempts at portal making weren’t as secret as she thought they were. 

“Do the Avengers know?” she asked. 

“Vision and Tony do, and Spider-man knows something happened as he was in the room when Carol called m, but he isn’t sure what. I was waiting until you woke up to see if you wanted me to tell the others or not. If you’d rather keep this private, I can just say that you're receiving very important training and need to stay at the Sanctum for a few days,” Stephen offered. Wanda considered. 

“You can tell them the truth. Just… can you ask them not to come? Well, Viz can come, and Clea obviously, but can you see if the others can wait until I get back?” Stephen nodded, understanding where she was coming from. While the Avengers were her friends, tensions were already running high. Someone trying to heal from a burn out certainly didn’t need to deal with fighting family. 

“I’ll tell them you need space,” Stephen agreed. That would be a fun conversation. Wanda nodded her thanks, seemed to be thinking the exact same thing as Stephen. 

 

~

“What do you mean she’s hurt!” Steve yelled, jumping up from his seat. Natasha was looking up at Stephen with her head tilted to the side, while Clint and Sam looked shocked. Captain Marvel had given them her recount of the events that had taken place in Training Room C, and now Stephen was giving them his report on Wanda’s status. 

“She isn’t hurt,” Natasha corrected Steve, “he said, she's recovering her strength. She just used too much of her power.” Stephen nodded. 

“This is ridiculous!” Clint said. “Wanda’s used plenty of power before, and she’s always been fine after!” 

“That was because her power was volatile, and had a will of its own. It fed off of her anger and fear and need for revenge. Now that she’s getting a handle on it, she will need to pace herself and build up to her full potential.”

“So you’ve weakened her,” Sam said, leaning back. While he was better than the rest of them, Stephen still found that he was quite distrusting of Stephen’s work with Wanda. 

“In a sense, yes,” Stephen admitted. “Because her power had latched on to negative emotions and her instability when they manifested, they are now far weaker without those feelings of turmoil. This means that I pretty much need to start from square one to give her proper training,” Stephen explained, knowing that it didn’t matter how many times he explained it. They would not understand. 

“Dr. Strange is correct,” Vision said, phasing through the wall. “When I first knew Wanda, her energy signature was quite unstable. I figured it was her emotional state, but it never seemed to settle down. Since her work with Dr. Strange began, it has begun to shift. I believe that it is beneficial that she continues.” They all stared at the android, even Steve knowing better than to argue with the literal mind stone. 

“So how long until we can see her?” Sam asked. 

“A few days, Captain Marvel has agreed to let her miss the next few training periods to recover,” Stephen said. 

“That sounds fair,” Sam replied, nodding slightly. “Have the others been alerted?” 

 

“Yes, War Machine is talking to them now. The Juniors as well. If there are no further questions, then I’m going to head back to the Sanctum.” Steve and Clint looked like they would prefer it if Stephen stayed so that they could punch him in the face, but they were still effectively chastised from the kitchen altercation, and so they held their tongues as Stephen portaled away.


	7. Ruby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda, Clea, and Mindy head to Queens, Peter, and MJ make an appearance, Flash is just the worst, and Stephen Strange is not amused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, so my dog passed away last night, and so I wanted to write this fluffy little thing for him. I may be doing a sadder chapter to honor his passing as well if I can manage to make myself write it without crying. Another huge thanks to TheMadHattress13 for letting me use her character, Mindy Zafai, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

“I can’t believe you’ve never been here before,” Clea said as she and Wanda made their way through Queens. 

“I’ve been here,” Wanda defended. “I just haven’t, you know, stopped to explore.” 

“Well, then you haven’t been here. Not really, anyway,” Clea replied. It was strange seeing her without her usual sorcerer uniform on. Instead, she was wearing a pink and purple streaked tank top and black leggings. 

“This place is nice,” Wanda observed.

“Yeah, it’s home,” Mindy said, sidling up beside them with hotdogs. “Here, they’re really good,” she said passing one to the other two. Wanda took a bite and found that the artist was correct. The hotdogs were amazing. While Clea seemed completely at ease being out in the city in broad daylight, Wanda continued to look around nervously, waiting for someone to recognize her. 

“Chill, no one knows who you are if you’re not in costume and doing magic,” Mindy said. You just look normal.” 

It had been Vision’s idea for Wanda to use her time off from training to try getting out a little bit once she felt well enough to, of course. Clea had volunteered to show her around with Mindy, and the two girls had successfully pestered Stephen into portaling them to Queens. 

“Spider-man is from here, right?” Clea asked suddenly. 

“Yes, I believe that he told Steve that during the airport fight,” Wanda recalled. She flinched internally as she recalled how she had come by that information; scouring Steve’s mind for intel on the new enhanced person after the battle while he remained blissfully unaware. 

“Yeah, he watches out for us down here,” Mindy said, sipping her soda. “He also lets me use his legos.” 

 

“You close with him?” Clea asked. 

“Yeah, we’re friends,” Mindy said. “How else do you think I know Stark? That’s all Spider-connections. That reminds me! Next time you see him, you are to call him ‘Spider-boo’. If anyone asks, Miss Marvel came up with the nickname. I sold it to her for her prank war.” Wanda nodded, though she wasn’t sure how much help it would be. She hadn’t seen much of the red and blue arachnid since the kitchen incident. It seemed that Tony was keeping him and the juniors well away from Steve and his posse. 

“Mindy!” A voice called. They all looked across the street to where a boy with messy brown hair was walking side by side with a taller, dark-skinned girl with curly hair. Both waved at Mindy Before crossing over to meet them. 

“Sup Peter, hey MJ,” Mindy said. “Where’s Ned?” she questioned. 

“Betty,” the girl, MJ, said. Mindy smirked but didn’t say anything. 

“Hey Mindy, hey Clea, hey- whoa,” Peter said, catching sight of Wanda. “You’re an Avenger!” he said excitedly. 

“Peter, chill,” MJ said, though she too was now looking at Wanda with interest. 

“W-what are you guys doing in Queens?” Peter asked. 

“Oh we were just showing Wanda here around for a bit of a tour to get away from all the Avengers drama and such,” Clea said. Peter nodded, eyes wide. 

“Any Spider-man sightings?” Mindy asked, and his eyes widened even more. 

“W-what? Oh, uh, no, I guess he’s just, uh not swinging today,” Peter stuttered out his reply, hands fidgeting slightly. Mindy giggled and Peter shot her a withering look. Or, as withering a look can be shot from the eyes of a human puppy dog. They all looked up at the sound of tires screeching around a corner. 

“Ugh. Flash.” MJ waved in disgust at a sports car came careening around a block, music blasting loud enough for Wanda to make out the lyrics of ‘My Chick Bad’ across the three-block distance. Everyone was looking to where the car belonging to who Wanda assumed to be Flash was speeding towards them, and so no one noticed the small streak of reddish-brown that leaped out of a side ally, scared out of hiding by an aggravated cat. 

“NO!” Wanda shrieked as the car careened towards what she realized now was a small, shaggy dog. 

“Oh shit!” Mindy exclaimed, noticing the dog as well. The car's brakes squealed as Flash tried to stop, but he was going to fast. In a second he would be on top of the dog. And then he wasn’t. 

Wanda stood, light scarlet dancing across her arms as she lifted the dog out of the path of Flash’s death car and onto the sidewalk. A murmur went up throughout the onlookers throughout the street. Scarlet Witch was in Queens and had just levitated a dog out of the path of a speeding car. 

“Woah, that was awesome!” Peter said as Wanda slowly kneeled down in front of the small dog. She slowly reached out and let it sniff her hand before scratching it lightly behind the ears. 

“Oh great, now she’s gonna want to keep it,” Clea grumbled. “Strange’ll flip.” 

“Flash!” MJ yelled, storing up to the car which was parked in the middle of the street, Flash paralyzed with shock in the driver's seat. 

“Oh, he’s in trouble!” Mindy grinned. Peter ran up to join MJ and Wanda picked up the dog and looked imploringly at Clea. 

“Can you portal us back to the Sanctum?” she asked. 

“And by ‘us you mean…” 

“Us three and Ruby?” Wanda said. 

“Have you seriously already named it? Unbelievable. Sickeningly cute. I’m in.” Clea opened up a portal and they all walked through to the sound of gasping from the present onlookers. 

~

“Stephen, have you tuned into the news lately?” Wong asked, making Stephen look up from the book he was reading. 

“No, why?” he asked. 

“It seems that Wanda’s powers are back in commission,” was all Wong offered. Stephen scrambled for a remote and switched to NBC where a shaky video clearly taken on an eye phone showed a small dog being lifted up and out of the way of a speeding sports car, a scarlet glow clearly evident around it. 

“This is the first sighting of the Scarlet Witch ever since her return to the states with the other rogue Avengers,” the newscaster was saying. “Witnesses say that while she did not give any statements, they do not feel that she posed any sort of threat and that she left soon after with two other women, one of whom opened the portal that they left through. The Avengers Initiative has yet to make any statements, though Queens friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has publicly thanked Scarlet Witch for her good deed. Back to you John.” 

“Clea!” Stephen called. “Is there anything you’d like to tell me about?” he asked when she appeared in the doorway. 

“Not particularly, no,” she said. 

“Okay, but if I see a single furry animal running around this Sanctum, then you’re going to have to reconsider that answer.” At that moment a loud yipping sounded throughout the Sanctum, and a pup came trotting in with one of Stephen’s best ties in it’s mouth, Wanda chasing desperately after it. 

“Ruby, drop it! Ruby- Dr. Strange.” Ruby, seeming to sense that she had crossed some sort of line, placed the tie carefully at the sorcerer’s feet and looked imploringly at him.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he said. Wanda and Clea glanced nervously at each other before looking back at Stephen, who had yet to take his eyes off the small dog now sitting at his feet. There was now slobber and a series of tiny holes in his best tie. 

“It better be potty trained,” was all he said. “And you owe me a new tie!”


	8. The Witching Hour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda projects a nightmare, Stephen is comforting, Ruby is cute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So I'm going to just say that Ruby, Wanda's dog, stays at the Sanctum as my excuse as to why she wasn't in any of the other parts of this series. I know that a lot of people wanted a heart to heart with Wanda and Stephen in either this or earlier stories, and so I have decided to begin to deliver on that! There will be more later on, but this is the beginning. Enjoy!

A sharp tug at the back of Wanda’s mind, a tug that had been keeping her focused and on top of things ever since beginning with Hydra, gave out. She felt something violent begin bubbling within her as she reached out desperately for Pietro’s mind and found nothing. She didn’t remember starting to scream, and couldn’t see anything besides the flashes of scarlet, bright and angry that ate away at everything it could reach. Then it was eating away at her skin. She looked around and found that she was no longer in Sokovia, but in the Sanctum, Dr. Strange and Wong lying dead around her along with Clea and Mindy. Angry red swirled around the room, and Wanda screamed as it burned through her like acid. 

“Mr. Stark!” A voice screamed, and she turned to see Spider-man running into the room. She turned to see where he was looking and found herself staring at the dead face of Tony Stark. “No, no, no, NO!” screamed Spider-man, running over and clutching at Tony’s corpse. 

“You killed him!” he cried out. “You took him away! You’re mad that he killed your parents? Well now you took mine!” he sobbed. Red energy began to crawl over Spider-Man's suit as well, but the boy didn’t seem to care, and soon he was gone as well. Wanda screamed, but the magic wouldn’t yield to her, and she soon found herself in the middle of a swirling mass of writhing energy. She howled and clawed at her skin as it ate away at her and she sobbed as she felt herself melting away into nothing. Through the violent, red haze she saw Ruby run in, the small dog desperately trying to get to Wanda. 

“No!” Wanda cried, trying to summon her magic to move the dog out of harm's way, but found that it was no longer under her control. Ruby was blown away into dust with a pained yelp. 

“No!” she wailed as she fell to her knees. “I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” her voice broke and she collapsed, sobbing incoherently as her own powers are away at her. 

~

Stephen woke with a gasp, jolting upright and looking around with wide eyes. He was in his bed in the Sanctum. He was very much alive, and to the best of his knowledge, so was Wong. He looked down sharply when a small wine came from behind his door. 

 

“Ruby?” he asked hoarsely. He slowly pushed the door open to see the small dog sitting in front of his door. Her big brown eyes stared intently at him, and upon looking closer, he saw a light scarlet glow shining in her irises. Wanda, he realized. That had been Wanda’s dream. Ruby continued to stare intently upward. 

“Is she okay?” Stephen asked. Ruby blinked at him and then began trotting down the dark hall of the Sanctum.

Wanda’s room was a bit further off from the others, and so Stephen had to feel his way through the hallways, his only guild being the tapping of Ruby’s nails on the floor. Soon though, a new sound reached his ears. 

“I’m sorry, I-I’m sorry! I didn’t- come back!” came a muffled sobbing. Stephen’s footsteps grew quicker. He heard a light scratching and new Ruby was at the door. He felt along the wall until his hand closed around the doorknob and he yanked it open. 

Wanda was thrashing around, her sheets tangled and glowing faintly red. The few personal items that she had asked Vision to bring her from the tower were levitating a few inches in the air, and Stephen could swear he could hear a heartbeat coming from the box by Wanda’s bedside. He’d figure that out later, for now, he had bigger matters to attend to.

“Wanda,” he said quietly, unsure as to what to do. He was bad enough handling regular nightmares; magical ones were a whole new level of uncertainty. 

“Pietro, come back! I can’t! I need your help!” she screamed suddenly, and Stephen jumped back. He knew he’d heard that name before… her brother. Pietro had been her brother. 

“Wanda!” Stephen yelled as a blast of energy went spiraling towards him. He noted in relief that it lacked the vicious nature of the power he’d witnessed in the dream. Wanda shot up, jolting awake at the sound of Stephen yelling. The levitating objects fell back down with a thud, and the scarlet glow faded from the room. 

“Wanda, you’re just dreaming. None of that was real,” Stephen said, gaining the terrified sorceress' attention. 

“B-but you’re dead…” Wanda began slowly. Stephen shook her head. 

“I know what you saw, and it isn’t real. It was just a dream. A very powerful dream, powerful enough that you unknowingly projected it to me.” Wanda stared at him with wide eyes as Ruby jumped onto her bed and licked at her hand. Stephen slowly sat down on the edge of her mattress. 

“There was quite a lot in that, I assume that you remember it?” he asked. Wanda nodded, wiping furiously at her tears. 

“It’s nothing,” she said. “It’s nothing, I’ve had dreams before. I’ll have them again. It doesn’t matter.” Stephen shook his head. 

“Yes, it does. You were frightened enough to project that dream to me through your subconscious. Some part of your mind didn’t want to have to deal with it alone,” he said. While the dream had shaken him, he felt a small sense of pride that she had projected the nightmare to him, and not just kept it to herself. A part of her, no matter how prominent or not, trusted Stephen to help her. 

“I killed them,” she said quietly. “I killed all of them and you… You had tried to help me, I don’t know if you saw that part,” she said, gulping down a breath. Stephen hadn't seen the beginning of the dream. Just the disjointed massacre that made up the middle. 

“You were telling me how to control it, but it didn’t want to be controlled, it hated you and I couldn’t stop it. I- I couldn’t hold it back and it just took you, and then it took Wong, and Clea, and then Stark came and it ripped him apart and then Spider-Man-” her words were cut off by a heart-wrenching sob, and without thinking, Stephen pulled her against his chest. 

“Shh, it isn’t real,” he whispered quietly. Ruby yipped slightly and snuggled her way in the middle of the two, curling up contentedly on the Cloak of Levitation. Wanda’s sobbing slowly died down, but she kept her face pressed into Stephen’s shoulder. 

“I-is Stark okay?” she asked quietly. 

“Yes,” Stephen replied immediately. Though he would die before admitting it to anyone, especially Clea, he had made sure that if anything remotely bad were to happen to Tony, he would sense it. So far he had helped Tony through two panic attacks and four lab accidents, so he thought it was a good use of magic. 

“Spider-man needs him,” Wanda said. “I don’t want him to hurt as I did. He’s a nice kid,” she said. Stephen nodded in agreement. 

“If I’m being fully honest I think that’s one of the things that scares Tony most about this whole ‘New Avengers’ thing. All the Juniors look up to him and he has no idea how to be the person they need. I try to tell him that he already is, but he never believes me. He’s terrified for the day that he screws something up for them.” 

“I think everything's already screwed up enough already,” Wanda said. “Steve and Sam have started fighting more,” she said, “it’s why I’m still staying here. Everything is so tense in the tower, and I can feel how riled up they all are. Even Vision is getting angry, and he’s always so calm about everything,” Wanda confided. Stephen nodded. He now only went to the tower purely to make sure that Tony was being a functioning human being. He was very often not, which was why Stephen still found these trips a necessity. 

“Well like I said, this room is yours. You can stay here as much as you like,” Stephen assured her. 

“I don’t think Steve would like that,” she sniffed. Stephen had a feeling that she was correct. Rogers had been highly against the idea of Wanda staying in the Sanctum and not the tower. If she wasn’t back by the next day he had a feeling that he’d be dealing with a very angry ex-captain. Then again, he thought, recalling Wanda’s quick shutdown of his and Steve’s argument in the kitchen, perhaps she would have it handled.


	9. Sleep Well, My Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why Stephen put the charm on Tony so that he'd know if he was in danger or felt threatened, and Wanda's first portal, also, Steve's an ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This one is a bit more focused on Tony and Stephen, and it's based on the sone 'Sleep Well My Angel' by We Are The Fallen. I sang the song to my dog when we were at the vet to put him down, and I just felt like it really fit Tony's character, so I wrote this. Enjoy!

“Tony! You can’t just keep ignoring us! You can’t keep ignoring me!” 

“You sure, Rogers? Cause I think that I can,” Tony responded, walking purposefully towards the safety of his workshop. Something grabbed his arm and he jerked back in fear, whipping around to see Steve holding tightly onto his shoulder. 

“Rogers, let go of me,” Tony said. His voice was deadly calm, but he could feel his heart beating sporadically in his chest. He needed to go, he needed to get to the lab, he needed Stephen. The last thought surprised him slightly, but it was true, wasn't it? He had been relying heavily on Stephen for the past few weeks. 

“Tony, we need to talk. This clearly isn’t working out and we need to bring the team together,” Steve was saying, still refusing to let go of the other man. If he was aware of the distress Tony as in, he didn’t show it. He was saying something out building bridges rather than burning them and being a family again, but Tony couldn’t hear him through the haze that was filling his mind. He stared blankly at the floor, the only feeling he could comprehend being the hand digging into his shoulder. The hand that had used a shield to shatter his sternum and had thrown him across the Siberian Hydra base. 

“Tony, are you even listening to me?” Steve demanded. 

Go, lab, Stephen.

Go, lab, Stephen.

Go, lab, Stephen.

“Tony?” Steve said, slightly uncertain this time. Tony was distantly aware that he should respond to Steve. Tell the other man that he was fine, and to fuck off, but his body felt heavy. He didn’t want to have to use the effort to open his mouth and form words. 

Go, lab, Stephen.

Go, lab, Stephen.

Go, lab, Stephen.

Go, lab, Stephen. 

Go, lab, Stephen.

Go, lab- “STARK!” Steve’s angry voice cut through the haze that was thickening around Tony’s mind. His head felt like a bowling ball as he feebly attempted to look up at Steve. Upon seeing the livid expression on the other man’s face, he wished that he hadn’t. 

It seemed that Steve had been saying something else that he had deemed important as these thoughts raced through Tony’s head, and Tony had once again missed it. 

“Stark, this isn’t a joke! You preach ‘accountability’ yet you can’t even pay attention to one conversation?” Steve chuckled. It was a mean, mirthless sound. “Of course you can’t. Cause you don’t care about accountability at all, do you? This was all just to try and make up for Ultron.” 

 

Tony’s blood ran cold, and a small choking sound came out of his throat, but Steve was too busy to notice how distressed Tony was. He was on a roll. 

“Accountability, how about you try apologizing for Wanda about her parents? About Ultron killing Pietro? I don’t see you being held accountable for that!” Steve yelled. “How about what you did to Becky? To me! We were supposed to be a team, Tony. We were supposed to stand for the right thing. Now, look what you’ve turned us into!” Steve looked at Tony in disgust, still blind to the other man’s pain, before turning on his heel and leaving Tony frozen in the hall. 

Something cold hit his back, and Tony realized distantly that it was the wall as he slid down to the ground, limbs shaking as he clutched desperately at the arc reactor. 

Go, lab, Stephen.

Go, lab, Stephen.

Go, lab, Stephen.

His breath came in gasps, and he hit his head hard against the cold wall as he forced air in and out of his lungs in shaking, uneven breaths. Thoughts came and went with no particular pattern, and never stayed long enough to form any actual ideas. They just drifted right out of Tony’s reach. 

...lab, Stephen. 

Lab, Stephen. 

Lab, Stephen.

Stephen.

“H-help,” Tony forced out as uncontrollable sobs wracked his frame. The hallway was deserted though. Why wouldn’t it be? A distant part of him that was still somewhat aware regretted sending Gina to Riri to get updated coding. Rogers never came near Tony when his little protector-bot was there. He tugged at his hair as he tried to force his thoughts into something resembling coherence, but there were too many of them. He let out a broken sob and huddled closer to the wall. 

~

Wanda Maximoff was just about done with Steve and Clint’s heckling of the Junior Avengers. If they wanted to share their identity, then they would. If not? Well, it was probably safer that way anyway. She wasn’t entirely sure where she was going, and, looking around, realized that this wasn’t a part of the tower she was familiar with at all. Her steps slowed down, and she looked around to see if there were any signs. There were none. She made to head back to the stairs when a sound made her stop. Someone was crying. 

Slowly she made her way forward, turning a corner and finding herself looking at a sight that Wanda would remember for the rest of her life. Tony Stark was curled up in front of her, head hitting the metal wall behind him as he cried in a way that suggested to Wanda that he had no idea how to stop. There was a good chance he wasn’t even aware he was doing it. He was too out of it to notice the appearance of another person, and so Wanda just stared at him in shock before turning and running back the way she’d come. 

She felt panic rise in her. She had no idea what to do for Stark, but Stephen might. He’d said that he was going to be at the Sanctum that day. Cleaning the library with Wong, yes that was it. She tried to remember what Stephen had done when he opened his portals. She looked down at her sling ring and prayed that it would work. She had tried portals before but had only ever succeeded in opening one for a few seconds. 

“Please,” she begged as she closed her eyes and focused on her magic. Tony was in danger, she realized as she poured her magic into making the portal. She had been in his position before, and she knew that it was dangerous. He needed help, and she couldn’t give it to him, she thought, forcing the portal into existence. She had to get the person that could. 

“Stephen!” She screamed as the portal opened up into the library. Stephen and Wong looked up in shock from the pile of books they were sorting. “Stephen please, Tony needs help!” she screamed. The portal was failing, and the last thing she saw was Stephen’s terrified expression before the scarlet light disappeared. “No!” she yelled in frustration. She was about to try again when a golden portal popped into existence and Stephen ran through it, the cloak of levitation flitting behind him in agitation. 

“What happened!” he demanded. Wanda just shook her head and pointed down the hall. Stephen was running before she’d even extended her arm. She walked slowly after, unsure if she should leave him with Tony or stay in case he needed something. When she turned the corner, Stephen was crouched down in front of the terrified man whispering softly. Wanda stayed back by the hallway corner and watched as Tony slowly looked up, seeming to be aware enough to identify Stephen. 

“Shhh, I’ve got you,” the sorcerer said before looking back over at Wanda. 

“Thank you,” he said. “Why don’t you find Frost & Oliver, let them know what happened. Rhodey as well if he’s out of his meeting with the council.” Wanda nodded wordlessly and turned back down the hallway. Her and Stark, it seemed, shared a bit more than she had thought possible. 

 

~

Stephen sat crouched in front of Tony as the other man’s eyes slowly focused on him. He had heard Wanda leave to alert Tony’s friends and hoped that Rhodey would be able to come and help him. While he knew how to protect Tony from physical and magically inflicted pain, this was new territory. 

“Tony, can you look at me?” he asked gently. Tony’s eyes flickered up at him and he smiled in a way he hoped was encouraging. “Yeah, just like that,” he said. The sobs had by now abated, and Tony was left trembling and dazed, exhaustion starting to set in. 

“S-Stephen,” he whispered. “Stephen,” he said again, seeming to be testing out whether or not he could say the name. He stayed frozen for a second before falling forward into Stephen's chest and breathing deeply. 

“Tony?” the sorcerer asked, unsure. 

“Lab. Now,” was all Tony said, the sound muffled by Stephen’s tunic. Stephen nodded and stood, pulling Tony up with him. He pushed the door open and half carried-half dragged the man over to a large couch. Tony laid down and looked blearily up at Stephen, who pulled over a stool and sat down. 

“Wanna tell me what that was about?” Stephen asked. Tony’s eyes dropped down and he shook his head, mumbling an answer which Stephen could barely catch.

“Rogers… Ultron…. Accountability… grabbed… Siberia and…. It’s stupid, sorry,” he finished. 

“Rogers did this,” Stephen stated. From the jumble of words Tony had thrown at him, he had a feeling exactly what Rogers had been on about. Tony nodded slightly and Stephen ran a hand through the other man’s hair. 

“Just rest, Tony. I’ll take care of this later,” he promised. Tony murmured something unintelligible before turning into Stephen’s hand and passing out. Stephen watched him sleep for a few minuted before sighing. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y, show footage from this hallway for the past twenty minutes,” he said quietly. 

“Of course, WitchDoctor,” the AI said somberly, as if aware of what Stephen was going to see. 

Stephen watched as Rogers approached, and he heard in high definition exactly what was said. He watched as Tony slowly fell apart and Rogers didn’t do a thing, and as the super-soldier stormed away with nothing more than a hateful glare for the man that had given him everything. He saw Wanda appear, and the horrified shock on her face as she saw Tony. She then ran back down the hallway to where Stephen had come through the portal. Once he himself appeared in the frame, he paused the recording. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, looking down at Tony’s sleeping form. There was a strange sort of feeling burning in his gut. Fierce anger and a gentle protectiveness blurring together to form a new emotion that he could not name.

“I’m sorry,” he said again. And again, and again, his hand running through Tony’s hair until it stuck up on all ends. When Rhodey appeared with Pepper fifteen minutes later, Stephen was still in the same position, and the two knew not to move him. Pepper began writing up a report for the council while Rhodey and Stephen discussed what had happened, and what to do should it happen again. 

Once Rhodey had left to tell Carol and Pepper to deliver her scathing report of Rogers’ behavior to the council, Stephen sat back down beside Tony and began murmuring quietly. It was a simple charm, but useful. It was the same one he had put on Clea. The second anything happened to threaten anyone he deemed ‘under his wing’, he would know, and he would be there. 

“Sleep well,” he whispered. There would be a long day ahead of them.


	10. Forgiveness (Can You Imagine)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically, the chapter when Wanda decides to focus on her training rather than being an Avenger and leaves Team Cap from Stephen's point of view, along with some Peter fluff, and Frost being his overdramatic self. Takes place after the fight with Dr. Doom for the first half, and right before Steve's betrayal of Peter for the second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry I'm so late with this. I've had a tough case of writer's block, and the chapter just wasn't coming to me. Hope you enjoy!

Dr. Strange was wondering whether or not they should have just killed Dr. Doom rather than send him to prison when they all got back to the compound. Frost and Steve were shooting each other withering looks, and Tony was trying his damndest to act as though he wasn’t aware that the Super Soldier was about to drag him into another fight. He sighed internally and turned his attention to Wanda, who was standing alone, but looking far to happy with herself to mind the lack of company. 

“Good job out there,” Stephen said, walking over to her. “You demonstrated good control over your powers.” Wanda smiled at that, quite proud of the work she’d done in Boston. 

“Goodnight Wanda,” Spider-man said as he and the other juniors headed up to their rooms. Tony was preparing for a fight, it seemed. 

“Night,” she replied, waving to the red and blue-clad hero. It was then that Steve and Tony began their discussions. The juniors steps began to lag as they attempted to see what was going to happen, but a glare from Stephen had them heading back up the stairs again. Stephen was prepared to portal him and Wanda back to the Sanctum but the sorceress stepped forward before he could suggest the idea. 

“Steve, just drop it.” 

Stephen almost started laughing at the look of utter confusion on the super-soldier's face. He could practically see the gears turning in his mind as he tried to understand why Wanda wasn’t standing up for him. Tony looked equally surprised, clearly not expecting any moral support from anyone, let alone Wanda Maximoff. Stephen had to admit that he was a little shocked as well. While Wanda’s hatred for Tony had certainly died down, he had long given up on the idea of the two ever being friends. Now though, now Wanda was turning and apologizing to Tony. Now she was telling Steve that he was wrong. 

“I believe that it is best, for the time being, if I take a break from active duty for now. You were right, after Leipzig. I shouldn’t be on the field until people can have assurance that nothing like that will happen again. Training with Wong and Stephen will grant them that assurance.” Stephen nodded, still half-convinced that this was a dream. Wait until Clea heard, wait until Wong heard! If he was being honest, he could barely wait to get back to the sanctum and rub her mature and well-thought-out decision in the faces of all the older sorcerers who had said she was a lost cause. Oh, this was going to be fun. 

Wanda headed up to her own room, and Stephen portaled back to the Sanctum, knowing that for the night at least, Steve was beaten. Clea grinned from ear to ear when he told her that Wanda would be training with them more often, and Wong just smiled as if he had seen it coming the whole time. Truth be told, he probably had. 

“She has chosen well,” a voice said. Stephen whirled around to see Frost crouched on the top of his dresser. 

“What the Hell are you doing in here?” Stephen demanded.

“You are Wanda’s teacher. I am Wanda’s friend. She has just made a life-changing decision. Spider-boo told me that we are therefore supposed to discuss,” the winter spirit said. Clearly, Kamala was doing a good job spreading around Peter’s new nick-name if even Frost was using it. 

“I don’t think he meant right now,” Stephen hissed. 

“Do you have somewhere else to be?” 

“...no.”

“Then now works,” Frost said. Stephen sighed in defeat and sat down on his bed. The winter spirit remained perched on top of the dresser. 

“Vision is with her now. They get along well. I believe that once the juniors learn of her decision tonight, they will reveal themselves to her. I believe that their friendship will be beneficial.” 

“Yeah, I think they’ll be good friends,” Stephen said, not quite sure where this was going. He narrowed his eyes as Frost sighed and sat so that his legs were swinging dejectedly over the dresser’s edge. 

“You’re jealous,” Stephen realized. “You’re not going to be her only friend anymore, and that scares you.” Frost gave him a withering look but made no attempts to deny it. 

“Besides Oliver, Wanda is my only friend,” Frost admitted. “And with Steve Rogers here, Oliver has taken to hiding in the mind palace far more so that I can’t talk to him.” 

“You’re lonely,” Stephen stated. He hadn’t ever considered that the spirit could get lonely, but he supposed it was only natural. Frost looked up at him.

“She listens to my stories,” he whispered. “She always listens, even when they aren’t that good. I’d begun to forget pieces, I’d been here on Earth for so long, but I can remember more now. Because she lets me share the memories.” Stephen felt a stab of pity for the winter spirit. 

“Hey, listen, she isn’t going to dump you as a friend just because the juniors start talking to her more, or tell her their names. You’re still Frost, who taught her to levitate pencils, and fought side by side with mages, and tells the best story. You still saved Tony and Oliver, and you still trusted her long before any of the others did. I think that you’re not just her friend. Your her best friend,” Stephen said. Frost seemed to think this over before nodding. 

“Thank you, witch doctor,” he said. 

“Tony told you to say that?” Stephen asked, rubbing his forehead. 

“Yes, he requested that I call you that,” Frost replied before jumping out the window and soaring back to the tower. 

“Of course he did. Of course, he did,” Stephen sighed. 

~

When Wanda woke up the next morning, she felt five times lighter. Now when she got ready and walked down the halls of the tower, she didn’t feel like an intruder. She felt like even if Steve himself tried to throw her out, she could accurately say that this was her home. She turned the corner into the common area to see a teenager spread eagle on one of the couches, remote in hand. 

“Wha-” Wanda began, “Peter?” she asked, recognizing the teen from her trip to Queens with Mindy and Clea. Peter looked like a deer caught in the headlights for a second before sitting up. 

“Yes,” he replied uncertainly. 

“W-what are you doing here?” Wanda asked. 

“I… work here,” Peter replied. 

“I thought you interned for Stark industries?” she questioned. 

“It’s a… special kind of internship,” Peter said carefully. 

“What do you mean, ‘special’?” Wanda asked, raising an eyebrow. Peter seemed to flounder for a minute before seemingly coming to a decision. 

“Well, um, I’m kind of, Spider-man,” he said, fidgeting awkwardly. Wanda blinked and then looked carefully at the teen in front of her. She had heard Spider-man speak before and knew that he was a junior, but still, he seemed so young. 

“You’re Spider-man,” she stated. 

“...yes,” Peter replied. Wanda blinked again. It made sense, she reasoned. Peter had seemed way too young to be a regular intern, definitely younger than the kind that would be on a first-name basis with Tony. She was honestly surprised she hadn’t guessed it sooner. 

“T-thanks for saving my breakfast,” Peter said awkwardly, and Wanda felt herself start to smile. She could see why everyone was so protective of the boy. 

“No problem, Peter. No problem.”


	11. Free Rom com

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clea and Wanda have a new inside joke with Wong, Tony has lots of ideas, and Stephen finally makes a move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Glad to be back with another chapter! 
> 
> IMPORTANT! Up until now, most of the chapters have been chronological order, or something resembling that. This chapter, on the other hand, takes place BEFORE the last chapter, about a day or so after 'Sleep Well My Angel'. Some of the chapters will now be in different places in the timeline going forward (either very far forward, or between other chapters) and I will make that clear in the starting notes. 
> 
> Have a good day!

“Where’s Stephen?” Clea asked, flopping down in a chair beside Wanda. 

“At the tower with Stark,” she replied, putting her book down. “Steve frightened him I think, I’m not entirely sure…” Wanda trailed off. She knew logically that there was no way to spin the story so that Steve wasn’t at fault, but it still felt like a betrayal of the man who had done so much for her to say otherwise. 

“What happened?” Clea asked, sitting forward. 

“I’m not entirely sure, I just came down to see Stark having some sort of panic attack. I opened a portal to tell Stephen that something was wrong, and he’s been with him ever since,” Wanda explained. 

“When was that? ‘Cause Stephen’s been gone for like, two days now. I’m pretty sure that Stark’s recovered by now,” Clea said. Wanda just shrugged. 

“It was yesterday morning,” Wong’s voice came from behind one of the bookshelves. “He’s been there ever since, and I doubt that he’s going to come back and attend to his duties as Sorcerer Supreme anytime soon,” he grouched. 

“You ask me, he’s no better than a lovesick puppy,” Clea stated making Wanda lookup. 

“What?” 

“You can’t possibly tell me that you haven’t noticed. Even Wong’s caught on!” Clea exclaimed. “He’s crushing hard, and I think we both know who he’s crushing on.” Wanda had never really considered that Stephen could possibly be holding a torch for anyone, he had always seemed too devoted to his work as Sorcerer Supreme. 

“You really think he has a thing for Stark?” she asked curiously. At that, Clea laughed. 

“Oh yeah, and if I know Stephen, it’s more than just ‘a thing’. He was way more of an ass before all of this started going down. I think this is good for him, personally.” 

“Let’s just hope Stark doesn’t break his heart,” Wanda grumbled. 

“He won’t.” It was Wong who spoke this time. “I know both of them, and he won’t.”

“And you don’t think Stephen will hurt Tony?” Clea asked. She had become fond of the scientist in the past few months.

“If he does, then he gets to deal with me personally,” Wong said, and Wanda got the feeling that Stephen would not want to have to do that. Wong could be scary when he wanted to be. Right on cue, a golden portal opened and Stephen Strange stepped through. 

“Ah, look who’s finally decided to join us,” Wong said, sending Stephen a sarcastic glare. “Glad that you managed to fit us into your busy schedule. 

“I’m sorry, I had important matters to attend to,” Stephen replied. 

“Boy Problems,” Clea coughed into her hand. Wanda bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing at Stephen’s confused look. 

“What did she say?” he asked. Clea just looked up at him with wide eyes. 

“I just coughed,” she said. 

“I know you said something.”

“I did not.” 

 

“Yes, you did-”

 

“Enough, Stephen, if Clea says she didn’t say anything, she didn’t say anything. Now, don’t you have work to do?” Wong demanded. Stephen at least had the decency to look somewhat embarrassed before delivering his next piece of information. 

“I’m actually just here to grab my bag, I’m… er… staying at the tower again tonight.” The look that Wong gave Stephen was murderous. 

“I swear to God, Stephen, you are the Sorcerer Supreme, you can’t just bail whenever you’re trying to get a dinner date-”

“I am not trying to get a dinner date!” 

“Save it, yes you are,” Wong snapped back, making Clea cover her mouth to hide her laughter. “I’ll let it go this time, but when you get back, you’re on cleaning duty!” Wong glowered, heading back into the depths of the library. Stephen sighed before turning towards the two girls. 

“What are you two looking at,” he said before re-opening his portal and stepping back into the tower. The second he was gone, Clea turned to Wanda with a knowing smirk. 

“We’ve got our personal rom-com to look forward to,” she said. Wanda stared at the spot where Stephen disappeared, eyes wide. 

“This should be good,” she said, and she thought that perhaps she might actually mean it. 

~

 

“Hey,” Tony greeted as Stephen stepped through the portal with his bag. The engineer was working on some possible upgrades for Harley and Riri’s iron suits as he had been all morning, but there was a new design up beside it, and it seemed that Tony had forgotten to take it down. 

“What’s this?” Stephen asked, walking up to the projection only for it to disappear as Tony swiftly spider it away. 

“Nothing,” he said hurriedly, just a pet project. So, you wanna order some take out? I’ve got to finish up down here, but I should be up for dinner if you want-” Tony trailed off as Stephen swiped the hologram back so that he was looking at Tony’ ‘pet project’. The Sorcerer Supreme found himself face to face with what looked to be his and Wanda’s own uniforms, except these versions seem to be made with a more durable material such as Spider-man’s uniform, enforced with a layer of vibranium. Quick notes jotted in by Tony spoke of a built-in distress signal that would go off if Stephen’s vitals dropped, and the outline for an AI system that looked like it would be shared by him and Wanda. There were more notes jotted on the sidelines and upon closer inspection, Stephen realized that Tony had been trying to figure out how to make the suit attuned to Stephen’s magic. The goal, according to the hologram in front of him, was to have an alert system if Stephen’s magic was compromised, or if another magical signature was picked up- a safety net against mind control and possession. 

“...yeah,” Tony said slowly, clearly uncomfortable. Stephen had said that while he was an Avenger, and the sorcerer's would be willing to work with the Avengers, he wanted the Sanctum to stay mostly separate. That couldn’t stop Tony’s mind, though. One look at the flimsy tunic that Stephen had seemed to think passed for a uniform, and he knew he could do better. Even just a pocket knife would be able to kill Strange, and that was not going to happen. Not on Tony’s watch. Still, it was only supposed to be dreams and ideas. He’d never dreamed of actually showing it to Stephen, he knew it was overstepping to try and read magical signatures and fit him with armor. He was so screwed. 

“When did you do this,” Stephen asked quietly. Tony considered just not answering a fleeing to a different part of the labs, but he knew better than to not answer the sorcerer. Besides, Stephen would have no problem finding him given that he could portal literally anywhere in the building. Tony sighed.

“A few weeks,” he admitted. He kept his head down but could tell that Stephen was swiping through the other pages of the project. The page of quickly summarize theories for how to create a lightweight armor for the cloak of levitation- one rip and Stephen could be knocked out of the sky. The rough draft for Clea and Wong’s uniforms, and more notes on the possible AI. The scans that F.R.I.D.A.Y had down of the training room after Wanda’s burnout and comparison to the scan after her old training sessions from before the Civil War. 

There were hundreds of ideas and theories, many focusing on ways to keep the sling rings on fingers without disrupting their magic (Tony had ruled out magnets, though that was the simplest solution). 

“Tony-”

 

“I know, I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I wasn’t going to actually make them, they were just ideas, I promise I wouldn’t do it without your permission and I know I overstepped and-”

“These are… they’re ingenious,” Stephen said, staring at the suit once more. The cloak of levitation was peering curiously at the designs over his shoulder and pointed at the bulletproof version of itself with one corner, and then pointed at itself as if asking a question. 

“Yes, that’s you,” Stephen replied. The cloak nodded and settled back on his shoulders, content. He finally pulled his eyes away from the hologram in front of him and let his gaze rest on Tony, who looked like he was ready to crawl into the ground and not come out until the next alien invasion. 

“Come on, you need to sit down,” Stephen said with a frown. Tony nodded and headed wordlessly over to the couch, Stephen following behind. 

“Your research so far is correct, I’m happy to help you if you need it, though you seem to be doing alright on your own. I’m sure that Wong would be willing to part with a few of his precious books long enough for you to get some intel out of them. I’m sure they’d be helpful.” Tony looked up at that. 

“You’re not angry?” he asked in shock. Stephen sighed. 

“No Tony, I’m not angry at you for trying to protect us. I wish you would have told me, though, I could have helped you. I’m sure Wanda will be glad that you're still thinking of her, even if she’s pulled out of the Avengers for the time being. Where did you get the vibranium from though?” Stephen asked, remembering the amount of rare metal that was in the designs. 

“T’Challa. He and Shuri decided that they wanted to send some over as a show of good faith. It’s mostly for publicity to show that Wakanda is opening it’s borders and willing to work with the Avengers and whatnot, but it’s been useful. I’ve been redoing some of the uniforms so that there’s vibranium protecting the vital organs at least.” 

“Peter?” Stephen asked knowingly. Tony nodded. 

“Kamala as well. I think that Riri and Harley are protected enough as they’re suits are entirely armor, but I’m putting on a thin layer just in case. Stephen nodded. It seemed that now that Tony knew he wasn’t going to be in trouble, he wanted to talk about nothing except his designs. 

“Would you like to tell me some more maybe at dinner? My treat,” Stephen offered. Tony looked warily at him for a second before nodding. 

“Alright witch doctor, you like Shawarma?”


	12. Kicked Dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda reflects, Tony doesn't think he can handle himself without Steve there to yell at him, and Stephen does portals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Contrary to popular belief, I am not dead, just very bad at updating! 
> 
> TIMELINE INFORMATION: This story takes place somewhere right before Wanda destroys Steve's phone in Wakanda, so tensions there are already on the rise. Stephen has just joined the Avengers initiative, and so he doesn't really know Tony all that well yet. 
> 
> This literally came to me at 3:00 am last night, and I wrote it in an hour, so it's probably really bad, but I just really felt the need to update this. So enjoy!

Wanda sat in her room and stared listlessly out at the Wakandan landscape. As beautiful as the grassy fields and blue sky were, they no longer interested the young witch. She had memorized every detail of the image by heart from the number of times she’d stared at it pondering her current situation. She sighed before finally turning away from the glass and grabbing the small burn phone she kept under her pillow. 

 

_ Viz, you there?  _ She typed. Within moments a reply came through

 

_ Hello Wanda, how are you today?  _

 

_ Bored. What’s going on back home?  _

 

_ Not much. Colonel Rhodes is at therapy with some special doctors to learn to use his new legs, and Tony is in his room. Ms. Potts has been kind enough to handle all the press around the current situation, and so none of us have had to leave the tower.  _

 

Wanda had to take a few moments to read before replying. 

 

_ Is it true that there have been more people recruited?  _

 

There was a significant pause on the other end of the line before Vision sent his reply. 

 

_ Yes.  _

 

Wanda nodded to herself and swallowed the lump forming in the back of her throat so that it rested in the pit of her stomach.

 

_ Who?  _

 

The pause was longer this time, and Wanda wondered briefly if Vision would just ignore her question, but the android was typing before she could even finish the thought. 

 

_ Because of the new confidentiality clause in the accords, I’m afraid I can’t give out personal information. I can tell you that there is a magic-user and two entities that I am personally very fascinated with. Tony is also working to secure alliances with some other heroes that handle the lower-level emergencies around New York and develop working relationships with heroes from other parts of the world.  _

 

Wanda briefly remembered Stark expressing such desires before at team meetings, but Steve had always pushed them to the side. ‘The Avengers are a family’ he’d say, ‘and they need to stay that way. Too many outside voices and it’ll become a business.’ Then Clint would crack a joke at Stark’s expense about capitalism and the meeting would continue, Stark not saying anything else. 

 

_ Is it working? _

 

_ Yes. I believe that it will be beneficial for the New Avengers Initiative.  _ Wanda had heard Vision use the term before. She couldn't be sure whether he used it on purpose or not. She had never thought of Vision as passive-aggressive; if he had something to say, he just said it. 

 

_ I miss you _ , she finally typed.

 

_ And I you.  _

 

~

 

Contrary to what Vision believed to be true, Tony was in his lab. Had been for the past three days. He’d occasionally take a power nap on the couch of sometimes on his work table, but other than that he had not slept in an equal amount of time. The whole space reeked of coffee and sweat, and there were empty red bull cans lying scattered among the mess. 

 

Tony wasn’t even entirely sure what it was he was supposedly working on at this point, his attention jumping from one thing to the next so quickly he couldn’t keep up. So far he had made upgrade’s to the Spider-suit, started designing Carol-proof training gear, enforced the area around his arc-reactor in his own suit, made at least fifty throw-away designs, and passed out from exhaustion at least three times. Needless to say, Tony Stark was a mess, and his usual methods of distraction were not working. 

 

It was all Steve’s fault, really. No matter what Tony did, all he could think about was the fact that he was falling apart, and Steve wasn’t there. There was coffee spilled all over his thousand-dollar work table, the puddle spreading dangerously near his computer, and Steve wasn’t there to yell at him to ‘clean up and have some dignity!’ or give him a list of upgrades that he needed for his suit. At least then Tony would have something to keep his hands busy. Speaking of hands, when had his own started shaking? 

 

“Oh God…” he whispered, and he barely had time to make it to the trash can before he was emptying the contents of his stomach, which was mostly just bile at that point, into said can. He rinsed his mouth with water and spat it back out into the same can before incinerating it with a repulsor blast. 

 

“Fuck,” he murmured, voice hoarse. Who was he kidding, he needed Steve. Desperately. 

 

The team could function without him, that Tony knew, but the billionaire himself was a different story. His entire life was Ironman now, and he had given that all to the Avengers.  _ Steve’s  _ Avengers. There was barely anything of him left now. 

 

“I need him,” Tony whispered, clutching at where his arc-reactor resided in his chest. “Shit, I can’t do this,” HE distantly heard F.R.I.D.A.Y’s worried voice, but didn’t reply. His chest felt tight, and he wondered briefly if he was having a heart attack, but knew that it was most likely just another panic attack. He’d been having those a lot recently. At this point a heart attack would be a welcomed change, he thought bitterly as he leaning on his arms over his desk, breathing heavily. 

 

Suddenly there was a familiar whooshing sound and a flash of gold. “Tony?” a voice asked. 

 

“Yup, whatcha need?” he asked, forcing his usual bravo into his voice. 

 

“Tony, it’s me,” said Stephen Strange, stepping closer. 

 

“Yes, I am aware of that fact,” the mechanic responded, his voice sounding strained. “So, what can I do for you?” 

 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y says that you are in distress, so she alerted the nearest Avenger. According to Pepper you’ve been down here for three days, and I think I’d believe her,” the sorcerer said, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the aroma wafting at him from around the workshop. 


	13. The Archer's Tale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A character study of Clint and his view on the events of 'The Shadows are Just Reflections' and some parts of 'Forgotten Moments' for rsnthrns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ
> 
> Hey everyone! I'm sorry to have taken so long, this week has been very demanding with studying and also a problem going on online for me that I would like to take a moment to address here. Most people, actually I'm guessing all people, didn't know this but up until very recently, I was sharing this account with another person who didn't have an account of their own. They let me bounce ideas off of them and were very supportive, and so when I was incredibly overloaded with school work, I let them write 'A trinity Divided', the story about Frost's past. While I didn't like what they did, they were a good writer and didn't write anyone out of character, so I was okay with it. Recently though, they revealed themselves to be deeply transphobic and I refuse to be associated with them any longer. I have now kicked them from the account and changed the password, orphaned the other work they wrote, (not related to Avengers or this series) and A Trinity Divided had already been deleted. I am considering re-writing 'A Trinity Divided' the way that I wanted it, with more tie-ins to the original series, so let me know if you guys would be interested. Sorry for the bock of text!
> 
> Enjoy!

Clint was pissed. He was sure at whom, just that he was pissed. Steve said that it was Tony’s fault, and so Clint decided that he must be pissed at Tony. So ‘Tony’ became ‘Stark’, the government became a conspiracy, and that was that. Nat leaving had been a nasty shock, but he knew that she had her reasons. While they were best friends, he couldn’t pretend to know everything that was going on in her head. Besides, he supposed she was right. It would be better for her to at least pretend to be on the side of the government given her past. They would probably be much less lenient towards her had she not turned herself in willingly. 

While Steve counted down the days until the inevitable call from the UN telling them that they were needed back in New York and that all was forgiven, Clint counted down the days to see his family. He had hoped that maybe Laura would have found a way to get to Wakanda to see him with the kids, or at least gotten a burn phone to him as Vision had for Wanda, but evidently not. He wondered bitterly if Stark had intercepted it. That was probably why Scott’s girlfriends and daughter hadn’t made contact either. Clint had mentioned this to Scott, but the other man didn’t look like he believed him. 

At first, their stay in Wakanda had been great. They were all optimistic that they would be heading home soon, so the time away seemed more like a vacation than anything else. T’Challa would stop by every so often to check-in and make sure they were okay, and Steve said that everything was being done to help Bucky. Clint got to know Sam and Scott better which was nice. He’d never really taken the time to meet the other two members of Steve’s team, both of them joining after his time with the Avengers was supposedly finished. Things didn’t stay so rosy though. 

Fights began to break out amongst the team, mostly between Sam and Steve, and it didn’t get better when Bucky came back like Clint had hoped. He felt like he was losing Wanda somewhere in all the brewing chaos, and he found that he was only partially surprised when it was revealed that she’s been talking with the ‘New Avengers’. That was another problem. Stark’s new team. 

Out of the remnants of the old team it seemed that Stark and UN had doubled the Avengers ranks with new members, new programs, and new systems that Clint refused to admit were superior to their old ones. The S.H.I.E.L.D operative within him said that this was how a program such as the Avengers should be run; with thought and care. The part of him that was Steve’s friend and hated Stark said otherwise. Steve said that the new team wouldn’t last and that they’d be called back any day now to take their rightful place at the forefront of the Avengers once more, but Clint had his doubts, though he was sure not to voice them. Instead he let his anger be the driving force of his personality, keeping the vulnerability he felt at being confined in a different country without his family or any way to contact them locked away and out of sight.

T’Challa’s betrayal had been something that Clint didn’t, but really should have seen coming. The man, while kind enough to offer them shelter and admit he had been wrong was still on Stark’s side during the airplane fight and had almost stopped Steve’s escape. Not to mention he was a politician. They should have known better than to trust politicians. It was them who caused this problem in the first place! It was not Steve’s greatest plan, Clint decided. Then again, Barnes was involved and they all knew that Steve would do what was best for Barnes. 

“So, we’re going home,” Clint said and Steve nodded. 

“Gotta say, not exactly how I pictured it,” the archer said and Steve sighed. 

“Me neither, Clint. It’ll turn around though, don’t worry. Tony just needs time. It’s probably been rough for him, trying to sort all this out. He’s been in trouble with the government before, so can you blame him for wanting to stay on their good side? Once he realizes that he was wrong, everything will fall into place,” the super-soldier reassured him. Steve, Clint thought, was far too quick to forgive Stark. He thought that the billionaire had a lot more to answer for. For example, why hadn’t he heard anything from Laura and the kids? If he’d suspected it before, he was now positive that Stark had something to do with it. 

After about two weeks at the compound, it was clear that Steve had been wrong about Stark falling back into line. So far they had lost any sort of power that they might have had within the Avengers, discovered that they had all been well and truly replaced, lost their old rooms, and were on the verge of losing Wanda to this ‘Dr. Strange’ and his weird wizard friends. Clint couldn't believe it, was she actually buying his bullshit about greater powers and control? Wanda had gotten on fine before, and was probably the strongest member of the team! Now she was being benched and sent away to some training sanctum. 

“Sam, man, do you know what’s up with Wanda?” he asked. It had been about a day since he’d seen her last, and he was getting worried. 

“I think she’s at the sanctum,” Sam replied. 

“But today’s her day off,” Clint said, and Sam nodded. 

“Yeah, I think she said something about wanting to hang out with some of her new friends. I think that they might be going down to Queens later,” he explained. Clint was stunned into silence. Wanda always came back on her days off from training to be near the rest of Team Cap. He figured that she’d especially want to have their support now, given her injury during training with ‘captain’ Marvel. Evidently not. 

Sam didn’t seem all that bothered by this, and Clint began to wonder if the others were getting to him too. He didn’t understand what was going on with Sam and Natasha… even Bucky, come to think of it. Why were they so easily abandoning Steve? Clint couldn’t wrap his head around it. He knew for sure that he wouldn’t, though. His loyalties stood firm. 

...and yet maybe they didn’t. It wasn’t cool what Steve did to Spider-man, and ‘good intentions’ were not going to cut it for an apology in Clint’s mind. While Steve complained about Stark’s ‘over the top’ reaction, Clint only saw a parent defending his child. He began to look closer at how Stark interacted with the juniors, and how they interacted with each other. They bickered as siblings would. Like Lila and Cooper. Still, they’d all joined together to protect their father whenever anything threatened his well being. For example, Steve. The creation of Gina proved that. He could see Wanda slowly but surely being accepted into the folds of their group. He wondered if she would eventually turn on Steve as well, and couldn’t help but feel that that was probably best. 

Laura hadn’t greeted him with the love and devotion he had expected when they were finally reunited. When he had first stepped foot in the safe house, a very comfortable farmhouse with enough space for each of the kids to have their own rooms, she had spent ten minutes yelling at him while the kids were out back playing. She had made sure to send them out when she heard he was coming. She didn’t want them to see him. 

She made sure that he knew the struggle she’d gone through. How she’d had to explain to the children that their father was not dead, but not coming home either. Nathaniel was too young to understand the rumors or listen to the news reports, but Lila and Cooper weren't. They understood exactly what their father had done, and hadn’t shared his views that it was the right thing to do. Laura had seriously considered a divorce, but Stark had begged her not to. Clint didn’t know what to say. All he could do was beg Laura to let him stay. To let him come back and stay with them at the safe house and try to fix what he’d done. She relented. 

He was on his way to Steve’s room when he ran into Wanda. She was walking towards the Junior Common area. It was really just one of the regular common areas, but the Junior’s had ‘claimed’ by chasing the adults out with pillows a few days prior and had yet to allow anyone over eighteen other than Wanda through the doors. Wanda was only allowed in because she’d helped them win by portraying a pile of pillows on top of Stephen so that he was too preoccupied to help Tony and the others. 

“Clint, I didn’t expect to see you,” she said in surprise, “I thought you were spending the day with your family.”

“I am, I’m just here to grab my things,” he answered. 

“You’re leaving then?” Wanda asked though she didn’t sound surprised. 

“Just for a bit. I’ve got a lot I need to sort through, with Laura and with myself. We both agreed it would be best if I devoted some time to fixing my family rather than the world.” Wanda nodded. 

“I hope it works out for you,” she said. 

“Thank you. I’ll stay in touch,” Clint assured her and she smiled before continuing towards the common area, where Clint could hear laughter echoing from. He had a feeling that Kate would fit in well there, he thought with a small smile. She was very outgoing and hadn’t been there for all of the bad blood between the teams, so they would have no reason to resent her. Maybe one day Lila, Cooper, and Nate could make an appearance too. 

With a hopeful future in mind, Clint headed on his out of the Avengers Compound and to where a helicopter was waiting to take him back home.


	14. Don't You Ever Talk to Her like That Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roger's yells at Wanda, Wanda gets scared, Stephen yells at Rogers.   
> For Aly_Max, who requested Steve yelling at Wanda, and defensive Stephen. Hope you like it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm on a roll! I've written two and I plan to write more! I'll just pace myself in releasing them so that you don't have to read through a ridiculous amount of chapters. My next one, I think, will be focused on Bucky and Tony. I know that I established that they're on better terms by the end of 'The Shadows are Just Reflections', so I figured I might as well show how they got there.

Wanda hadn’t shown up. Again. Steve knew that she was just a kid and needed more time to adjust to everything, but he knew that there were times when a line needed to be drawn. Now was one of those times. Steve had told Sam, Clint, Bucky, and Wanda to meet him in his room for a team meeting that morning at nine-fifteen. Bucky had come at eight-thirty. Sam and Clint had come at nine-fifteen. Wanda had yet to appear, and it was now nine-thirty. 

“Where is she?” Steve growled. They had checked the security footage to get confirmation that she hadn’t left the compound, so they knew that she was in the building. She just wasn’t in the part of the building that Steve wanted her. 

“Are you sure she got the message?” Clint asked. “I mean, did she respond?” 

“No, but neither did Sam and he’s still here,” Steve said. “Besides, the little things says ‘read’, so she’s definitely seen it!” he pointed out, and Sam shrugged. 

“Maybe she just forgot,” he offered. 

“How could she forget, this is an important meeting!” Steve said, beginning to pace the length of the room. “We need to figure out what we want to do about Stark and his behavior fast, she must understand the gravity of the situation. If he’s left unchecked with the UN, she could end up back on the raft!” Steve pointed out, waving his arms to emphasize the point. 

“Actually the raft was shut down,” Sam said. “It was part of the negotiations for the sorcerers to join the alliance with the Avengers Initiative,” he explained, “they made an amendment leaving the punishment of magical entities to the Sorcerer Supreme, who as of now is Dr. Strange.” The others stared at him in surprise for a few moments before Steve rolled his eyes. 

“Great, just what we need, now Strange is in charge. Do you think he’ll treat her any better? The second he realizes he can’t brainwash her into compliance he’ll throw her God knows where. Probably some other dimension.” Sam opened his mouth to argue, but seemed to think better of it and closed it once more. 

“Why don’t we just have the meeting and if she shows up, she shows up. If she doesn’t, then we can just fill her in later,” suggested Bucky, sensing that rising tension in his friend. 

“Bucky’s right, I’m sure she’s just caught up with some of the Junior’s doing some crazy prank or something,” Clint agreed. “Spider-man sure is fond of silly string.” Steve didn’t seem convinced, but they began the meeting anyway. It went as most of their meetings did, with Steve taking the lead and riling everyone up, Clint venting and complaining more than contributing Sam, arguing both sides, and Bucky remaining silent except to agree with Steve when called upon. Wanda never made an appearance. 

“You don’t think something’s wrong, do you?” Clint asked as he and Sam headed down to the kitchen to get a late breakfast. 

“Nah, she probably just didn’t want to come. I mean, it’s a pretty stressful environment and she is working on control,” Sam said. 

“Stressful? “Clint asked, brows furrowed. 

“I mean, the whole thing is just you and Steve bashing Stark and the others while Bucky sits in silence and I yell every so often, can you really blame her for not wanting a part of it? If you ask me, she’s reading in her room or something,” Sam said. 

~

As Sam had suspected, Wanda was in her room. Just not the one that he had thought. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed at the sanctum brushing out Ruby’s tangly fur, a small, scarlet bow sitting beside her on the bed for the fur once it was brushed. The reason that the security footage from the compound didn’t show her leaving that morning was that she’d never actually returned back there the previous night, instead deciding to take up a last-minute offer from Clea for a slumber party. They had spent most of the night doing art and blasting alternative rock music before drifting off somewhere near three in the morning. If Stephen minded, he didn’t say anything, though Wanda doubted he’d even noticed given how much time he was spending at the compound. 

“Hey, how’d you sleep?” Clea asked, stumbling into the room. Clearly she'd just rolled out of bed. 

“Good. I just got up,” Wanda admitted. 

“Nothing like sleeping till noon on a Saturday,” Clea said, and Wanda’s hand froze where it was brushing Ruby’s back. 

“Wait, noon? What time is it!” she demanded, jumping up and running to grab her phone. Eleven fifty-two. 

“Nonononononono,” she mumbled quickly gathering her clothes and hurriedly changing. 

“What’s going on?” Clea asked groggily. 

“I was supposed to be in a meeting with Steve at nine-fifteen!” she exclaimed. “You’ve got to portal me back!” she yelled desperately. 

“Hey, hey, hey, calm down, I’ve got you covered,” she said, opening a portal. Wanda rushed through with a hurried thank you and skidded into the hall of the compound, running straight into Steve Rogers. 

“Steve, I’m-”

“Where have you been?” Steve demanded, still angry from the meeting. It had been over for about an hour, but it was still fresh in his mind. 

“I was-”

“Did you just come from the sanctum?” he cut her off again and she nodded mutely. 

“That doesn’t make sense, I looked at all the security footage from the morning and you didn't leave- you stayed the night there, didn’t you?” he realized. She nodded again and flinched slightly at the disappointed sigh Steve let out. 

“Wanda, this is serious,” Steve said, clearly struggling to keep his tone level. It wasn’t working. “You can’t just disappear off to God knows where whenever you want, we’re a family, we have to stick together! I told everyone to meet at nine-fifteen in my room, and so we all met at nine-fifteen in my room!” he yelled. Wanda didn’t say anything, just stared at the ground and tightened her hold on her magic. It wouldn’t help anyone to have an outburst now. 

“Honestly, I get it, alright? You’re just a kid, you need to do your own thing, but it’s getting to be time to take some responsibility, okay! You can’t just disappear on us. You already know how I feel about you hanging around the sanctum, and you go anyway! You do know that they can throw you back on the raft, right? God, you don’t think!” Steve was yelling. 

“There is no more raft,” Wanda whispered. Stephen had promised her there was no more raft. He had promised her, right? 

A pins and needles sensation climbed up her neck until it rested at her throat and she pursed her lips and tensed her jaw against the phantom collar and electric shocks. Steve’s mouth formed words, but she wasn’t sure what they were. She brushed her arm against her side, suddenly hyper-aware of how the cotton felt on her arms. Her arms which were not bound across her chest, she reminded herself. She struggled against the feelings that she knew were not real, Steve’s voice washing over her like waves while she tried desperately not to drown. She opened her mouth to beg for help, but no sound came out, and she just stood there, perfectly still, mouth slightly agape as she mentally begged for help, though she knew Steve couldn’t hear her. He never had. 

“I think that’s enough,” a voice said. Steve’s mouth stopped moving and his eyes rested on something behind her. Wanda slowly turned her head to see Stephen standing in the hallway, arm’s crossed. 

“This doesn’t concern you, Strange,” Steve said icily. 

“You’re harassing my student, I’m afraid that it does,” Stephen replied in an equally chilling tone. 

“Harassing- listen, wizard, I get that you're a big deal back where you’re from, but here you’re just another Avenger that Stark dragged in to try to fill the hole, so I’d get off my high horse if I were you,” he said, and Stephen just scoffed. 

“I’d take a look in the mirror, Rogers,” he said walking up to stand beside Wanda. 

“Are you all right?” he asked, and she just nodded. “Wong’s thinking about having a group lunch with everyone at the sanctum, would you like to join us?” he asked. 

“Yes, that sounds nice,” Wanda forced herself to speak rather than just nodding. She knew that Stephen would accept a nod, but Steve, not so much. 

“Alright,” Stephen said, opening a portal and holding out his arm for her to take. Neither of them looked back at Steve, who was standing shocked in the hallway and would be for another three minutes before he retreated to his room and called Bucky. 

~

The second they got through the portal, Stephen led Wanda to her bed and helped her sit down. Her breath was coming in gasps and he quickly summoned water over, crouching down in front of her and letting her keep hold of his arm. He held the cup up to her mouth, but she didn’t react. 

“Wanda, I need you to drink this, it will help,” he said quietly. Slowly she turned her head so that her gaze was focused on Stephen. 

“It’s water,” he told her. 

“Water,” she repeated back, nodding slightly. She carefully removed one hand from his arm and took the glass from his hand, gulping down the contents and slowly tensing her muscles. 

“What was that?” she asked once she’d retained all of her senses. 

“My best guess would be a combination of stress, the strength you were using to hold back a power-related outburst, and PTSD,” Stephen said in the same, careful tone. 

“PTSD?” she asked.

“Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” he said, “do you know what it is?” Wanda nodded. She had known plenty of people in Sokovia who suffered from it. She just didn’t think that she’d be one of them. 

“Is the raft gone?” Wanda asked after a moment of silence. 

“You already know that,” Stephen said in confusion. 

“Just tell me,” she said. 

“It is. It was dismantled not two days after your escape. All magical prisoners my jurisdiction, not the UN’s, and I won’t let anything happen to you,” he assured her. Wanda nodded, and let herself be pulled into a gentle hug. 

“Lunch should be ready in about an hour, Wong’s having it ordered from that Chinese place a few blocks over. He just has to get everyone’s order first. Do you think you’ll be ready by then?” Wanda nodded. 

“Where’s Ruby?” she questioned. Stephen focused for a second before opening a small portal and reaching inside, pulling the small dog through. 

“Why don’t you rest in here,” he said, handing Wanda the dog. “I’ll be back, I’ve got some business to take care of,” Stephen said. Wanda nodded as she curled up on her bed and pulled up the covers, pulling Ruby into her lap. Within a few moments, she was asleep. 

~

 

Steve was in the common room with Bucky and Clint when Stephen portaled in. He didn’t hesitate, just strode right over to Steve, a dangerous look on his face. 

“What the Hell-” Began Clint, but Stephen ignored him. 

“Don’t you ever speak to her like that again,” Stephen growled at Steve, acting as though the other two occupants of the room didn’t exist. 

“Do you understand? You don’t yell at her about things you don’t understand, you don’t make her feel like shit for not going to your stupid meetings which, if I’m correct, are against the Avengers Initiative Unity Policy, and you don’t ever mention the raft, you hear me?” Steve was too shocked to get angry. He only nodded, staring at the sorcerer with wide eyes. Stephen nodded once and marched back through the portal, this time making it take him straight to Tony’s lab. 

“Witch Doctor, what’s up?” the engineer asked when Stephen came striding in. 

“I need a break. What are you working on?” he asked, and Tony’s face split into the grin that it always did when Stephen asked him what he was working on. 

“You’ll never believe what I’ve figured out-” he began.


	15. I Don't Want Him to Hate Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky gets some things off his chest. Tony listens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! The updates will probably be slowing down a bit now, but I'll probably have something up soon, by Monday the latest I hope! I just wanted to get some Bucky into the story 'cause I haven't mentioned him in a while.

Tony didn’t know what to think of Bucky Barnes. He understood that the man had been under mind control when he had killed Tony’s parents and with a lot of therapy, he had been able to accept that Barnes was not to blame. That didn’t mean that he liked the man. He did his best to avoid him for a number of reasons. One, he was always with Steve, and Tony made it his new life’s mission to stay far away from Steve, and two, because seeing Barnes was just a reminder of Siberia. He should have known that he’d have to face him eventually. 

Barnes would need a new arm, and the council insisted that Tony make it for him. While they were usually content to allow Tony to pick and choose his clientele, they felt that it was necessary for Barnes’ prosthetic to be made by hin given he was the only person they had on their payroll that could actually do a good job of it. That was why he now found himself alone in his lab with James Buchanon Barnes taking measurements and making designs.

The other man was silent and very twitchy. Tony wondered if he was experiencing any side effects from using BARF technology so much. The council hadn’t insisted on that because they had no legal way of doing so as Tony’s technology was private, but he wanted to offer it to Barnes anyway. He really did want to help the man, and another small part of him wanted to spite Steve, to show him that it was him, Tony Stark, that had helped heal Bucky. That did was Steve was so desperate to do. 

“So, how do you like the compound?” Tony asked. 

“It’s nice,” Bucky answered. 

“Really? ‘Cause from what I've heard you haven't really seen much of it,” Tony said. He’d asked Rhody, Stephen, and Carol to keep an eye on Bucky, and they’d all reported back saying that the man rarely left his room. He was only ever seen getting food during a meal, training, or by Steve’s side in the commons. Bucky shrugged. 

“Steve doesn’t think it’s a good idea for me to wonder,” he said. 

“And so you don’t?” Tony asked. 

“Well it makes sense, tensions are high,” Bucky defended. “Besides, Stevie knows what’s best.” Tony sighed and continued planning out the diagram. 

“Alright, what are you thinking? You want flashy, you want normal, you want super strength?” he asked. “You name it, I can make it.” Bucky blinked in confusion. 

“Um… whatever’s easiest for you I guess,” he said and Tony sighed in mock exasperation. 

“Come on, that’s no fun! Give me a challenge, pretty please?” he asked. Bucky just looked more confused. 

“Look, you’ve gotta at least tell me what kind of prosthetic you want. Do you want one that looks like a regular arm, or do you like the metallic look?” Tony asked. 

“Steve didn’t say-”

“Oh screw what Steve says, what do you think you’d like?” Tony asked, his patience reaching its limit. “You can have whatever kind of awesome robot arm you want, and you’re waiting on what Steve has to say? It’s your arm, Barnes!” Tony exclaimed. Bucky just shook his head. 

“Look,” Tony began in a gentler tone, “you can’t just let other people make all your decisions for you. You’ll just end up a doormat. You’ve got to step up and call your own shots. And if the decision ends up being shit, well then you make a different call next time! You’re so busy walking on eggshells trying to prove that you’re not Hydra anymore that you’ve walked into the same situation except this time you’re aware! Are you Bucky Barnes, or are you a lap dog?” 

By the end of Tony’s rant, Bucky was staring determinedly at the ground, shaking slightly. Tony swiped the graphs down and walked carefully towards him, unsure of whether or not he had pushed too far and broken something. 

“Barnes?” he asked tentatively. 

“I don’t want him to hate me,” Bucky whispered, and Tony realized that he was crying. 

“I’m not who he thinks I am- not who he remembers. I don’t want him to find out and hate me, so I just do what he would have done. The other Bucky. What would he have done?” Tony doesn’t know. All he knew about Bucky was from his father’s stories, and those were mostly focused on Steve. 

“He’s wanted me to cut my hair short like it used to be during the war, but I didn’t want to, I don’t like how it looked short. I did back then, but I don’t anymore. I told him I just didn’t want scissors close to my head, but that bullshit,” he said. 

“Have you tried talking to anyone about this?” Tony asked. It was what Rhodey and Pepper had always said to him when he was having problems, though he had never taken their advice until recently. Tony considered paying for Bucky to see someone himself, but knew that Steve would never approve. Besides, Bucky needed to figure things out for himself. 

“You haven’t had choices for over seventy-five years, I get it,” Tony began, “so I’m guessing you're not used to having them now. Let’s start with something easy, and then we’ll work our way up. Okay?” 

 

Bucky nodded.

“Great. Do you want your hair cut short like in Steve’s old pictures, or do you want it to stay long like it is now?” he asked.

“Long,” Bucky said immediately. 

“Cool. Beige or silver?” he asked. There was a pause before Bucky answered.

“Silver,” he said.

“Which do you like better, silver or bronze?” Tony asked. This time Bucky thought for a moment. 

“Silver,” he finally said. Tony nodded, filing the information away in his mind. 

“Do you like gold or bronze?” asked next. Bucky thought again. 

“Bronze,” he decided this time. 

“What’s your greatest asset, mind or body?” Tony asked. There was a longer pause this time. 

“Body,” Bucky decided. “My mind doesn’t work anymore, but the serum Hydra gave me made my body strong.” Tony nodded. 

“Alright, now I’m going to take some measurements. I’m going to have to touch you to do it, is that okay?” he asked. Bucky nodded. 

The process was a lot less pain-staking as Tony had expected, Bucky sitting perfectly still while Tony jotted down notes for sizing. From Bucky’s answers to his questions, Tony had decided on a silver, metal arm with bronze accents. He could probably use some vibranium to make a coating. 

“Alright, I should have a plan done by Tuesday at the latest. I’ll message you when I have it ready,” Tony said, putting away his tape measure Bucky nodded and left the lab as Tony got to work. When he saw the super-soldier next, it was in the common room. When Steve asked Bucky about cutting his hair, he just shook his head. No excuses, just a no.


End file.
